Conditioning Seminar: Warm Ups, Cool Downs, and Stretches

I had morning lessons and only made it to the afternoon session. It was SO worth it Debbie Gross Saunders was speaking about Warm Ups, Cool Downs, and Stretches.

A lot of the information I already knew from reading books and articles. It had been overwhelming to know exactly what to do and how to condense it to a time frame that's reasonable. We were given guidelines that would be easy to follow and that I can definitely trust to be good options.

I'll be making some changes to my classes:
My agility and flyball students will be arriving 15-some minutes early and stay 15 some minutes after class. Obviously we'll talk about it this week and it'll happen the next week. This way they have time to do an appropriate warm out. Up until now, we do some walking and jogging at the beginning...if they want. And then some attention and easy behaviors to warm up. This is a good start but we definitely weren't doing enough and we should be doing some stretches. Because there are basic training classes prior to these classes, I'll be creating two walking lanes along the long wall so that students can arrive and start to do walking and jogging without interrupting the basic training students. And without having to do the walking outdoors. Come spring....well have them get into that habit! They'll do about five minutes of walking and five minutes of jogging. I'll help them learn how to do some very basic stretches and warm up activities. I'm going to be pretty strict about this for the flyball group and the advanced agility group. After classes, the same sort of thing.

Obviously after Griffin's appt, we'll be more diligent about proper preparation and cool downs too. One of the BIG things emphasized is that there is NO good reason to NOT be doing this stuff. We're doing activities with our dogs to be with them. We need to prepare them and keep them safe, not just 'fix them later.'



Crating after a warm up or before a complete cool down is a really bad idea. This will make our training group days a bit of a challenge, I need to help the others and there isn't really time for a proper cool down or warm up. But I'll be making time. Discussing my training plans or the results of the session while working with Griffin. And then maybe just some pauses in between when dogs are working.

More conditioning. More physical preparation. Early arrivals for us to classes and lessons and trials. And more gear. I really want to get one of these coats for the dogs, and esp for Blaze to wear for periods of time.

Finally a Diagnosis

Last summer Griffin was lame multiple times. We finally got a diagnosis of Lyme. We treated him. He got a lot better. But things still weren't quite right. After another episode of lameness a few weeks ago we re-checked for lyme. His values were much lower and so that was not the problem.

As his recent hip xrays had come back as excellent (yay! And normal elbows!) Our breeder had recommended consulting, as she did last summer, Debbie Gross Saunders. She's in CT, "only" 13 hours away. To our luck, she would be giving a seminar locally! She does speaking all over, does a lot of education with vet-type professionals, and creates resources and articles for dog-sport people [not all of those are hers, but many are].

We (Griffin, the breeders, and I!) begged to get a private lesson spot. The hosts had none available, we thanked them and said if that changes to PLEASE let us know. To our luck, a spot opened up!

And... we found out that Griffin has a mild psoas injury. The good news? It's mild and there's a lot we can do to help him get better. But it's something we'll have to be very careful to prevent any re-occurring problems in the future.

The psoas injuries in dogs are not uncommon, and while agility is often blamed, dogs can get even just running outside on a slippery surface. This muscle connects the rear leg to the back and can be very painful for the dogs. The injuries can be hard to diagnose as the average pet owner probably won't notice some of the minor symptoms and regular vets aren't typically able to figure out what's going on.

For two weeks we will be:
- Heat twice a day for 15 minutes. I'm really not sure how I'll do this. We have a heated dog bed that he likes. But that won't quite be in the right place.
- Hikes! We can go out off leash if the ground isn't slippery! I'm so excited! We've done a little of this because Griffin convinced me so. However, I was always hesitant we could be making it worse. We'll use moderation. Start out on leash and then do a bit of stretching before letting him go.
- Work on an exercise ball: We have a few different activities to do on here to work on his balance and strength.
- Stretches: Stretching out the rear leg and a turning-to-the-side stretch. It will take a bit of work to get him not to be distressed by the handling.
- Hill walking: Slowly up and down, only a few times a week. We'll probably do this in conjunction with our off leash walks.
- We CAN still do agility in moderation: Yay! So we'll be able to find a class! And keep working on our own too! I was really surprised this was going to be something we could do so soon.

After two weeks we'll be checking back in. Hopefully before then we'll be able to find someone near us to help adjust the exercises and monitor our progress.

Now to the Griffin part:
- His favorite part: When she asked to see him move....off leash. He got to run around. I was not happy he wandered around so much. But he was cute running (as he always is!).
- He did NOT like the handling/manipulation/stretching demos: Obviously there was pain and he doesn't like pain. He did his adorable growling for part of it. But we were able to figure out enough of what was going on. I tried to feed him throughout but he was too stressed to eat.
- Stretching demos: Just didn't work. But luckily I had Blaze in the car and he's great for that sort of thing. I was able to learn what I needed to do without stressing out my dog more than he already had been.
- Debbie noticed a shortened stride when he ran. I can see that when it's pointed out, but I hadn't specifically noted this. I'll be watching to see how this changes over time.
- At camp last year, Megan noted that he doesn't stack perfectly. I don't remember which parts she saw were off... but today it was noted that his left rear toe points out just slightly. We'll be working to correct this and then all should be well.

His breeders had recommended Debbie very highly, but I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I'd read her (not so recent ) book a few months ago and watched her exercise ball DVD, but was a bit hesitant about some of the dog handling on there while recognizing that it can be stressful for the human and dog to be doing video and getting things done in an appointment.

It was a great experience! I'm always interested in the "people teaching" part of animal professionals, and she definitely did a -great- job with that. She was able to explain what was going on and what I needed to do without 'watering it down'. Great as professional. Great as a speaker-educator with non-vet-type professionals. It was also really cool that she knows his family and breeders and was able to comment on some of the silly little things his mom does. I'll be going to parts of the seminar this weekend and will be taking a lot of notes. I really wish I was closer and could keep taking Griffin to her.

It's just so neat/happy/exciting to keep hearing little things from different people, all over, about his family, I'm really glad to know them the little bit I do.

So now I get to join the injured-dog-club. But I don't plan on having my membership for long!

Using Platforms for Training the Directed Retrieve

Michele Pouliot has done presentations at ClickerExpo about using platforms to teach behaviors. I haven’t yet been able to go to that presentation (or to watch her new DVD on the topic), but I have been utilizing platforms in my own ways!



We warmed up with go-outs to a platform. And then I added in sending my dog from a sit to the platform.

For retriever-y activities, my understanding is that he has to turn back in the direction indicated. Or more, that it’s desirable for some specific reason. Horray! Once he was doing this well, I placed a platform off to (my) right.

We continued to use the back platform, to be sure he would not be immediately drawn to the new one. The first few responses his turns were, strategically, away from the side platform. And then we tried back-turns towards the platform. All correct!

Unsurprisingly, it was difficult for him to actually go to the side platform. I helped him out and he did better.

We did a few other games with this, I might post later, and then we worked with a directed retrieve set up.

Previously, our work with the directed retrieve had progressed to something 10-20 feet directly to our left, same distance out front, same to my right. But when we tried to decrease the angles, we had more errors than I would like.

The platforms provided a way to break down the behavior (“Go where indicated.”) without the retrieve part. I didn’t want to risk damaging our retrieve with the incorrect responses we may get.

Surprisingly, he had 5/5 correct responses. I edited enough to take out our playing and set up. I was very surprised he was doing so well!

We’ll do more sessions like this and then substitute item/s for the platforms. Or possibly on the platforms (but would that damage our platform behavior (a foot touch, he doesn’t have to sit unless cued). And hopefully it goes as well as it should in theory!

Griffin: Off Leash Class 2: Not so good

Tonight he was considerably less agitated/frenzied. He was able to focus and work. No barking. No thoughts of barking.

But he also didn't work so well. We started with some heeling, some crating (which was great until the door was closed and then he would not down), some stands while I push/touch/move and some stays. I pulled out the platforms and we tried to work on that but he wouldn't. And his session with them yesterday was brilliant. I took him outside and came back in but he still wouldn't focus. We did some petting but he was done.

What was different today? One less dog. (2 others). One less instructor. We came in after the other dogs. He had training earlier in the day at the park. But lots of rest time between the two.

So I'm not sure yet what we'll do next week. Maybe alternate crate-training-inside with crating him in the car or in the front room? I will also have my timer... I left it in the car and didn't want to disturb the other dogs (only on their second night of class ever) by going out the front door. That will help me time the crating and for our stays. I should also have a better variety of reinforcers (beef sausage, kibble, and pretzels today...) and precut them. Didn't I say that last week?

How we did not go to an APDT trial.

Last month: "I'll go two days! I'll do two runs Saturday and one on Sunday with Griffin, and Blaze once each day."

Two weeks ago: "I missed pre entries. That's okay, we can still do day of trial entries. I'll go just one day. One run each dog."

Last week: "I'll take just dog. Blaze? Or Griffin? Maybe I'll take them both and decide when we get there and do a few test warm up minutes."

Last Wednesday after off-leash class: "Okay. Griffin isn't really ready for the environment. That's okay. Blaze has had enough training he should do well."

Last night before practice: "Great, I can't wait! He's had enough training it should go smoothly."

Last night after practice: "Wow, it's good I can count, otherwise I would think I'm missing a finger. Or two. Okay. I'm not going to take Blaze. Maybe I'll stay home."

Megan last night: "If I have to go to the trial, you have to go to a trial."
Me: "Okay. We'll see."

Me half-asleep last night: "I'll take Griffin. If we can get from the car to the ring, we should be good. Yeah. That's what I'll do."

Me this morning: "Uh no. Too cold. Not ready. Sleep in."

And so I did not go. I wish I would have. I probably should have. But maybe not. We're not quite ready in some ways. But we're over ready in others.

My compromise was to do an obedience run through tonight between lessons


Hours later I realized I didn't do heeling pace changes. And I did the stays but no video as that's completly boring. We should be ready. Eventually. We had great parts (duration of heeling) and not so great (the stays and SFE foot twitches) and smaller not so great parts (a few bumps on heeling and the completely lost piece during heeling. And my twitching.

Horray for Griffin's brother who got his OTCH today. It only took a year from CD to OTCH! We're very proud.

Training Shelter Dogs: Creating Cuddly Dogs

Many people are more likely to be drawn to the dogs that are insisting on social contact rather than the dogs doing their own thing or actively avoiding contact. We like to interact with dogs by petting them and having the dogs be near us.

Unfortunately, a lot of the dogs at our shelter were under-socialized as puppies. And so while most are comfortable with all the regular volunteers, the dogs don't actively seek out social contact even if they do recognize people as having great things. We need to get the shy dogs to enjoy being touched by the people they know well and then start to introduce new people as well.

If we had more volunteers or a stream of people coming to visit the dogs, I would start introducing other people being present or tossing treats now. But... winter. And no real indoor training space. We are working the dogs in their kennels, in outdoor play yards (brrr) or in the 3x5ish entry area.

I know I've seen several videos of this sort of thing... this is the only one I could find this morning.

To go to a very short summary: Small pet. Mark for still dog or dog moving into the hand. Feed. Repeat. Extending the duration or amount of petting when we need to increase criteria. If we are getting moving away, we go to a smaller amount of touching.

For about six months I've been working on this regularly with Griffin and he's now seeking out petting in various circumstances. Often when he's bored or really wanting to do something (...training class!). He will come over and press himself against me and I do reinforce it with petting... it was a trained behavior and didn't start being offered until it had been trained.

Loopy Training: Getting a High Rate of Reinforcement

I never went to this session by Alexandra Kurland at expo.
But last spring I read this fabulous blog post has -greatly- impacted my training.

If we aren't getting a behavior immediately offered after the click, I'll break it down and use a smaller criteria piece until we're back into the 'loop'.

It's easy to get caught up in "the dog WILL offer the completed/desired behavior" and then waiting it out. And sometimes that's appropriate. But that often can lead to a very poor rate of reinforcement. And probably less overall fluency than we think we have.

More efficient training. More repetitions. Faster progress. And it gives students a way of measuring 'success' other than counting numbers/percentages of correct responses.