I have been to many training classes over the years with a wide variety of people. I have been in classes with not only the brand new with their first dog, to advanced competitors, but that should also know better.
Here are several things that will make your class go smother, and keep you and your dog from being the training class pariah.
- Be on time.
- Be prepared.
- Pay attention to your dog!
- Listen to your trainer, but still watch your dog.
- Be patent.
Our first item, Be on Time, is very self-explanatory, but is one of the most abused. I know traffic can be difficult, and you had to get gas or any number of different reasons. The bottom line is, yes, YOU paid for the class, but so did the rest of us. A person coming in late consistently disrupts the flow of the class and exercises all of us are trying to learn. The is rude to everyone in the class. We all understand being late once in a while, it’s the constant late person that is the issue. This is a disservice to both you and your dog because your also missing important information that you may need.
Being prepared has several parts to it. Have the right leash! Fumbling around while you try to change equipment stalls the class. If you like to use a harness get to class early so you can get the right equipment onto your dog. Know when your turn is. If you know your turn is coming, go get your dog ready so when the person ahead of you is done you can take the field. This is a real-time waister if you have a large class or club. With being prepared, have plenty of training treats for Fluffy, and have them easily accessible. Have a bate pouch or an easy access pocket to put them in. Carrying a zip loc baggie, or having it in your pocket and trying to fish a treat out hurts your training because of the delay between marking a good behavior and her reward.
Pay attention to your dog! This is without a doubt one of my biggest pet peeves. Not every dog wants to meet other dogs. Not only that, your goals and another person may not be the same. Heres an example. We went to an Agility class with our Grand Champion Terv bitch. She had never been dog aggressive, she had always been neutral, even when other dogs were posturing. We were helping to set up bars for the next jump height and the next person let her dog out. Ours were in their crate. She didn’t pay attention to her dog, who went right over to our dog’s crate and attacked. By the time I got over there the damage was done. There was no injury, but now our Grand Champion show dog is aggressive in her crate. Not only that when she sees a dog of similar markings she becomes aggressive. The excuse that “he just wanted to play” is hooey if she paid attention to the body language and actions. The same goes if you have your dog on lead during class with other dogs out on a lead. Because the dog is confined on a leash, they can be more wary of other dogs, and a normally friendly dog and become afraid and bad things can happen. Always pay attention to where your dog is and keep them focused on you, do not let them focus on other dogs.
Pay attention to your dog and your trainer. If your trainer is on the field with you and is giving you advice on working your dog, while they are talking, watch your dog. I know we are taught from an early “look at the person talking to you”, however in this case break that rule. I was out on the field while my Agility coach was talking to me. I was listening to him and we were both going over hand signals. When I got over to the bench my wife said, “You weren’t paying attention to Victor were you”. I admitted I was paying attention to my coach. Ginette then told me the reason Victor was running around going through our coach’s legs and going to different obstacles was because he was following my hand signals. Obviously, I should have paid more attention. Another example was the coach talking to a student who was trying to teach the teeter totter. As they talked the little dog went around them and ran up the teeter. Up to this time, they had been lowering it slowly so it wouldn’t scare the puppy. Well, they weren’t paying attention and the teeter slammed down scaring the puppy. All their hard work ruined by not paying attention.
Last but not least “Be Patent”. I cannot stress this enough. Do not look at what others are doing in class and be discouraged because your dog doesn’t seem to be keeping up. Dog’s, just like people learn at different speeds. They will also learn in different ways. The other dog may have also done a lot of “Prep” work for the class because he or she is experienced with the sport. I am in an “Intro to Agility” class with my puppy Lola. I have done a lot of prep work with her, so when the other student’s see us, they think their dogs should be able to do the same. The coach tries to explain that we did a lot of work prior to the class, but they still want to try, which is good. You should want to push you and your dog, but also remember not everyone is there for the same thing. My goal for the class is to get Lola used to all the other dogs, and used to equipment I don’t have at home. I had already worked on a lot of the skills she needed for the equipment, I just needed a different atmosphere. Here is where I have to be patent. Because Lola is doing so well, there is the desire to move her into a more advanced class quickly. I need to be patent and make sure I teach her all the skills for each level class before moving on. Also be patent with a new concept to teach your dog. It may take several sessions or even months to teach something. Keep at it! Just because the technique didn’t work immediately, doesn’t mean it won’t work. Refine what you are doing and be patent, the “lightbulb” will suddenly go off in the dog’s mind and it will be glorious. Switching training techniques every week because “It didn’t work”, will tend to confuse the dog. If after several weeks you see no improvement, then move on to another technique, but be honest with yourself,m and your dog. Did you really put in the effort? Be patent, work and train hard, and you will meet
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