Clicker Training at Trials

I agree with everyone else. Take your clicker and work with Koji but away from the ring. I know locally people are asked not to have food/treats within 10' of the ring. (Yeah, right...that happens. :uhoh: 90% of the competitors stand in the chute with treats or toys for the dog while waiting our turn.)

Standing 20' away with your clicker should be more than a respectable distance from the action and still allow you to work with Koji on his reactivity. If the dog can't stay focused on the job at that point, and I'll be there are more distractions than your clicker going on closer to the ring, then the handler has a lot more work to do.
 
corbinam said:
But I also tug with my dog as we wait our turn, and apparently some people find that annoying (I had no idea?) so my opinion may not help!
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The dog I am currently running wouldn't care about a clicker or squeaks, but he gets his back up at what he perceives to be out of control dogs near him. People swinging their growling Border Collies around while tugging are *to him* out of control dogs that need to be carefully watched. Even dogs who are growling while tugging in place are ones to be "watched". I can't blame him.
 
I think what I'll do is.....since my next trial will be with my club, I'll let everyone know what I plan on doing. If they hear people complain about me clicking, to please let me know. Then for sure I'll get feedback from irate people. lol.

I will keep a nice distance, but close enough that I can work with Koji. No point of being far away from the dogs if Koji isn't reacting. I'll probably start far away anyways as I'll need to get him under his threshold.

As for food near the ring, I think most people that have food hounds do this. The thing I dislike is when people leave things on the ground. This one woman's dog LOVES coffee. Someone left a nice starbucks cup near the entrance of the ring. She didn't see it, but the dog did. The dog took the first jump then proceeded straight to the coffee cup. Needless to say, she was PO'd. And I didn't blame her. I've seen dogs leave the ring for treat bags on the ground too. Sigh.

Ashley, in all honesty, I dislike people playing tug with their dogs because it gets Koji really riled up. He wants to play. He doesn't like that he can't play. He wants to chase the dog that's jumping around, growling, having fun. Ditto with people who throw toys for the dog to fetch or play chase near the gate. They may be getting their dogs worked up, but it's not the only dog getting worked up either. If you were near me, Koji would be lunging, barking, getting higher than high over his threshold and then I'd have to go run. We all know how'd that go. All I will say is this....lots of people do it. It's what we've learned to deal with. Just please don't do it near the gate entrance and stand away from the people near the gate if possible.

I agree that with most dogs, a clicker should NOT disturb them. BUT if someone was flashing my dog food, waving around a hot dog, I would not be happy. I also don't like to hear squeaky toys near the ring - ever. So, I don't want to be "one of those people" who don't think of anyone but themselves. Especially for the Open/Novice people, since their dogs are more likely to get distracted.

Just trying to be respectful, but at the same time, train my dog to accept the crowds. He's getting worse (probably because I'm not trialing as often) and I really do NOT want to be thrown out of a trial. But I can see that we're getting there. I mean, I have to carry Koji through crowded spots (if a lot of dogs are within 10-15 feet of him). Sigh. It's so embarrassing.
 
my friend at a trial had her dog run out of the ring- someone left a white plate with food on it right outside the gate. so target trained dog went for the goodies. friend was not happy- never found out who left the plate there......
 
My thought is, dogs in the ring should be trained to handle whatever is going on outside the ring. No excuses. If you are there, your dog should be ready. And a clicker isn't that big of a deal, as far as noise goes. If a dog at a trial can't handle hearing a clicker there, it doesn't need to be there. So, go ahead and use it to train a better response with Koji.
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I think a lot depends on how high drive your dog is, and how observant they are. Starr is mid drive. He's also a young, intact male, and he's incredibly observant. He'll run past turkey with no hesitation, but last weekend, a competitor walked their female dog who is close to being in season within 5 - 10 feet of the ropes as we were doing the dog walk (which was right on the ropes). Starr jumped off the dogwalk, went through the ropes, and checked her out. As soon as I called him he returned to the ring. The next day, as we were doing the weaves on a chances run (again, beside the ropes), a competitor with one arm walked past him. Starr didn't leave the ring, but he was so focused on her he couldn't complete the weave poles. He's a ridiculously observant dog - he notices when my neighbours move their garbage can a foot, and he's never met a person without an arm before, so he fixated on her (didn't leave the ring, but stared at her and couldn't focus enough to do the weaves). The woman very graciously met him afterwards and gave him treats so all is good.

The clicker isn't a big deal, but having a reactive dog near competing dogs is. If Starr hears a clicker while he's running the course, he'll ignore it. A reactive dog, however, will get a reaction from him if it's within a certain distance. He has an excellent recall - most dogs don't When you're working with reactive dogs, you always have to look at worst case scenario - if the dog escalates, what could potentially happen? And how many competitors have a reliable recall on their dogs? You could unintentionally end up with a dog fight, which would make the situation even worse for the dog who is reactive.

I can't speak for others... and I have a feeling most coming from obedience/rally are similar to the hunter/jumper people who give you a dirty look if you make a bunch of noise because their horses aren't trained to deal with it but I at least wouldn't be bothered by it.
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I think it's just common courtesy. Everyone who is competing in agility/obedience/rally/freestyle has spent thousands of hours and a lot of money. Why would I want to sabotage them? I think everyone deserves the best chance possible to succeed, so I won't leave treats around the ring, I keep a wide berth of the ropes, I never use squeaky toys or balls, I tug a respectful distance away, I avoid eye contact with competing dogs when I'm bar setting, etc. None of these things will distract my dog, but I would feel horrible if they distracted someone else's dog.
 
Around here there is always some commotion outside the ring, so somebodies clicker is the least of my problems, outside the ring is usually ar away enough so we can deal... That's definitely also is one of the reasons Toffee runs wayyy slower and less focused at trials than at a fun match, of course we are building on confidence... and it will come :D

Cheryl, I think trials are the best environment to train for behaviour, imo. Good on you giving it a a whirl!!
Have you considered just saying YES as your marker instead of a click? Works for me at trials, I am always working in passive attention and *knock on wood* no lunging, yet this season :fl
I take a little mat with me and make T lay down on it by the ring and reward reward reward quiet, relaxed behaviour.
 
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Toffee's Mom said:
Have you considered just saying YES as your marker instead of a click? Works for me at trials, I am always working in passive attention and *knock on wood* no lunging, yet this season :fl
I take a little mat with me and make T lay down on it by the ring and reward reward reward quiet, relaxed behaviour.
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I have tried verbal cues. And no matter where we are, he's already over threshold for that. I mean, even if he's just staring/focused at something, he's over threshold for a verbal cue. With a clicker, he'd refocus on me.

I have a quiet clicker and downloaded a clicker app on my phone (so I can adjust the volume). Since I'll be working with him, first far away, then closer as the day goes on, I'll choose which clicker would be the best choice.

BTW, mat work for him is working wonders near the gate. But of course, I have to get to the gate first, which is pure hell. But at least he's more calm and focused before heading in...well, as long as I carry him. If he walks and sees another dog, it's all over. :( Baby steps.
 
I have three intact males (two young, one five years old) They have been taught better than to leave me to check out intact bitches. We actually roomed with a bitch my oldest male was being bred to a couple years ago and she was at the agility trial though not competing the whole weekend. I could work my girls in heat here at home on my equipment, let them sit on the table and all, and never get a reaction.
I stand by it. Do what you want outside the ring and mine aren't going to react. Their job is to work regardless. They are taught not to leave to see anything going on outside the ring.
I do think if a person can't keep their dog working in the ring with distractions then they arent ready to trial. They need to still be working at home. A blown run because of a dog leaving is not the fault of anyone outside. It is the fault of the handler for not training their dog well enough to ignore/leave alone whatever is outside the ring.
 
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