I'll touch on the main things I got from this seminar. But let me first say, I had a really good weekend. My back hurts, my knee hurts, it was in the high 80s, but it was great! She's coming back in Oct and Dec. I wish I could afford to go to one.
CONTACTS
As I said before, I was bummed we didn't discuss contacts more, but after I ran my run (first dog with 2o2o) contacts who screwed up, she said, "she may be the first, but I know she's not the last". LOL. And she was right. So many other people had my issue. So this is what I learned about my contacts. First. Koji is still doing a 4-on, so I need to work on his 2o2o and retrain from the beginning (target plate). I also learned when he stops short, I have to address it one of three ways. 1. wait him out (even if it takes forever). And I need to do this AT trials too. Even if I get whistled off. 2. take him off and have him redo the DW or 3. accept the compromise of his 4-on, but I must be consistent about this.
When I ran, Koji slowed, then inched his way down. She explained (and I'm sure I thought of this before) that Koji probably does that because I (probably in trial) released him early once. Then again, then maybe a bit more earlier. And now he's just going to anticipate my release and jump over the contacts. When she told us all that, I saw a lot of people nodding their heads. LOL. I'm sure I wasn't the only one that did that. She also said once he gets his 2nd paw on the grass, THEN I reward him. Not earlier, not too long after. She also said, you have two choices in rewards. Release or treat, but not both. My current trainer said that to me too. I had learned that whenever I release, I'm supposed to treat. Um, okay. It makes sense why the release SHOULD BE the treat. Overall, a good lesson to have learned.
Koji hit his A-frame contact and she was fine with that. Of course he did!!! And since we didn't touch on contacts again, I couldn't do much about it. Another guy though, asked about his, and since we have slightly the same issue, I just listened. The one thing she said we need to do....as positive reinforcement trainers is to remember that there has to be a negative part to it too. So, when the guys dog doesn't hit the contacts, he needs to say "no" or something so she knows she's wrong. Then do it again. She also said, that the dogs don't have to redo it again and again until it's perfectly the way you want it to me. Especially for soft dogs. If it's better than the last, then great. BUT, the next time they do it, it has to be better that that last one. Meaning, you need to expect more and more out of your dog, because yes, most of them can take it. Whereas, I have always learned that you canNOT treat "almost", you can ONLY treat "correct" behavior. So, if the guys dog hits the contact in the top, then good. But next time, the dog has to go a bit lower, until the dog hits the contact where he wants it. Definitely against the things we have learned. But a trainer I know (who's a great handler) said she doesn't do that, but will try and see what happens. She worked on it at lunch, the dog did great. She was surprised as was most of us.
MOTION
This whole concept of showing the dog MY motion (with my feet) to indicate where I want him to go is so strange. I learned Derrett and although it is about motion, it's also a lot of arm cues. For some people, Daisy had them run with their arms behind their back to show them that they didn't need it. The people that had the most issues were the Derrett people and the people that used a lot of shoulder turn. My friend that I have trained with for a LONG time uses a LOT of shoulder turn to get her dog to turn. Daisy said, "what does that do? It means turn, yes, but it also pushes the dog out because it means run forward. So the dog runs in the direction you want, but FAR out". I told hubby that I need to tell friend this. He said, why, don't tell her, because then you can beat her. hehehe {evil laugh}. As the day progressed I started doing what she does, lead with my feet, understand what my shoulders mean, etc. And it was working great. Koji was reading me so well.
Oh man ladies. She made me run WITHOUT my sunglasses. To make sure she could see me looking at him and so that Koji could see me and we could have eye contact. Honestly, I'm not sure how much it helped or not, but can we say blinded by the sun!
Four big things I learned.
1. Always watch your dog. There are few times you can take your eyes off him. Wow, I can't believe how much um, this works. Bad me! Yes, I take my eyes of Koji. It's probably when things go bad too.
2. With novice dogs, give cues slower. They can't see the fast movement yet and/or doesn't understand it. Do your FC's a bit slower, give hand signals a bit slower. I couldn't believe what a difference this made with the young pups.
3. Find a running coach and have them teach you how to move correctly (that's for us, the humans. Not the dogs). For example, most people if they have to go sideways, will turn their entire body 90 degrees. Versus, taking a step to the side. Man oh man this made a HUGE difference with Koji.
4. I need to learn to "sit on a stool" when I do a send (and by send, I mean, show him a jump as I'm moving in the other direction). This has a lot to do with 3, but once I started doing it, Koji would turn tighter and get the jumps at a better angle, etc. This is more for if you show him a jump, and need to run in the opposite direction. Again, instead of turning my whole body 90 to 180 degrees (which we'd do more naturally), I would need to take a step backwards first. Hence, the sit on a stool. Wow! Worked great too!!!
Here's the set-up she had for us. Later on, I'll post some "how would you handle it" and we can discuss how Daisy had me handle things.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb152/kelela92/Misc/DaisySetUp.jpg
I'll post more, but for now, here's a taste of things I learned. I got some great video, but won't be posting them per Daisy's request. Besides, they're really long and I don't know how to edit (still).
I have to work now, so enjoy reading for a bit.
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Lexi throws herself over jumps. She knows how to jump (does it when necessary) but doesn't like to. We did the thing where we walked a line of jumps and she spent the whole time barking and spinning at our feet rather than taking the jumps at a slow speed.