Problem: Distracted obedience dog

Problem: Distracted obedience dog

Dear Shannon

I have been lucky enough to have taken part in one of your ABC seminars which has been of invaluable help and up till now, responsible for my dog's successes in obedience training. I have yet to show him and was on the brink of putting him in the ring when quite recently the environment became more important to him than me. This has been a problem for some months as he has just turned 2 years and I wonder if that has something to do with it?

Could you help me out with this particular problem? So far, I have tried offering food more frequently as when he becomes distracted, the toy loses all importance. I could go on and on about this but will stick to the bare bones of the problem and just press the send button.

Help! And thanks a lot.

PPP

Dear PPP

You are probably right in that his age plays a role. From 18 – 24 months the dog goes through their final stage of mental maturity and during this stage they can be quite testing of limits.

The easiest solution is to not buy into the power struggle. Take a break for a couple of months and when you start up again you'll find that he is a different dog. I have used this approach in the past with my dogs and it has worked a charm, but then again I have seven dogs so the odds of working a dog that is in the correct frame of mind are much higher!

If the dog is not in drive and will not go into drive with a gentle nudge, then don't waste your time and energy on that day. People tend to work too hard to get dogs into drive. It becomes the handler's job to be responsible for the dog's attitude and that's a tall task.

When working your dog do you wait for him to go into drive before you start? This is very important and too many people don't think the dogs are capable of doing this themselves. The handler thus takes over the burden. Treats and toys are used to try and coerce the dog into action and if you think about it the act of being “out of drive” is actually being reinforced.

My favourite working dog is a little crossbreed rescue. He will quite happily curl up on my lap ringside and have a snooze. As soon as I ask him “Are you ready?” he goes into drive and is full of focussed energy. He has learnt that if he is not in drive I am not going to coerce him and he thus looses the opportunity to work and earn rewards.

There are a couple of exercises that you can do to help him regain his focus:

Feeding – Make sure that nobody else feeds your dog. As far as your dog is concerned you are to be the provider of all resources.
Hand feeding – For a period of two weeks have every single piece of food that he eats come out of your hand. Initially just feed him and after a couple of days ask for some focus for each handful of food. You could always follow this routine for a couple of days leading up to a show.
Focus exercise – I am sure that you probably practice these, but start doing them with distraction. Ensure that the reward is of very high value to the dog. Depending on the dog you may want to mix up food, toys etc as rewards.
Predictable – Perhaps you have become a little predictable in your reinforcement schedules? Pay more attention to using an intermittent schedule – it may help initially to put him onto a fixed ratio schedule to get the point across. To start with reward every third correct response – yes, they can count and watch how quickly they get through the first two responses in order to get to the payout response! You could also reward him on a fixed time schedule – alternate the time period in each session. This adds an element of excitement and curiosity for the dog.

Set up your normal session, but bench or crate your dog. Go through the exact motions of practising (perhaps even talking and treating your imaginary dog) until your dog starts to show some impatience at not being a part of this. He is then worked – in effect we reinforce his drive with the opportunity to work. We also teach him that getting himself into drive is putting him into a position where he can earn further reinforcements. If you start and he looses focus, bench or crate him again. If he is not prepared to focus then you are not prepared to work with him.

Perhaps also consider different approaches to exercises. We play a fun game in our classes where the handlers spell out words in their heelwork patterns. Leave your dog in a Sit Stay when you progress to the beginning of the next letter and then recall the dog– it's a great way to practice heelwork, irregular turns and offset recalls. Vowels can be at fast pace etc.

You may also want to consider clicker training. The dogs that I have clicker trained have focus that is quite uncanny. I think because the dog initiates the behaviour it is that much more intense. Clicker trained dogs also seem to have a greater sense of “ownership” in their work – it's a hard concept to explain, but once you've seen it, it makes sense.

The process of proofing is also very important. Ensure that your dog has multiple and quick successes in distracting environments and don't take proofing shortcuts.

Train like you compete and compete like you train. In other words, keep your practice and show routines as similar as possible. Too many people have completely different routines when competing and this is enough to make even the most stable dog feel a little insecure and hesitant.

It may be a little off topic, but visualising is a very useful skill. Imagining your dog going through a routine exactly as you would like makes a definite change to your posture and attitude. As you know dogs pick up on this. You may want to spend a couple of minutes before a session visualising your dog being focussed while working. Some people believe that the dog may “pick up” these images. I am sceptical of that, but I do know that the attitude shift that visualising gives to me has certainly helped me be a better handler for my dog.

Good luck!

Shannon