I have been hashing out an answer to this question for quite some time. One of my friends tells me that the answer is simply, "because it is fun" ... well, yes it is - but fun is easily had with a dog or two, or six, if you love them.
SO why invest the considerable time, money, effort and energy in the whole business of competing? It takes up enough of my resources of time, money and energy that I needed to have a complete answer to this question for myself.
My dogs are well rounded citizens with different skills and interests. Why leave the confines of our own social ramblings and enter the odd circus of dog sports? I've dabbled in various disciplines but, for the moment, it is dog agility which really has won my heart.
If you are reading this blog you will not be surprised to hear that I love learning more than just about anything else. I prize gaining new knowledge about dogs, about communication, about learning and teaching. I love the feeling of being in "flow" OR connecting with my own canine companions. When I work with a client and puzzle out how what makes their dog tick and how to bridge better communication between human and canine. I love my time at the shelter when we observe and chat through the behaviour of animals who have often been treated very poorly indeed.
What does competing offer that staying at home cannot?
This past weekend was my first trialling weekend of this year and I got a very complete answer to that question! I had been feeling pretty awesome about how my training has been going .. hmmm ... it turns out a little humility was in order :)
I've been diligently setting up other people's courses, training through obstacle challenges, training with all four dogs out to add distractions. Basically doing everything I could think of to add challenges to my training. MY TRAINING, at MY HOME - we have been doing well. I got up early on Saturday morning feeling confident. Off we went ... AND ... well
No need to go into the gory details but lets say that the smooth flowing connected runs of our home training sessions were NOT to be seen. this weekend. The perfect contacts, excellent driving lines and weave pole entries from any angle ... not so much. How about ME - my smooth fluency handling courses - out the window - SIGH
Why compete? To learn. To learn more, to learn better and to over come challenges and obstacles. I am going to be brutally honest, it really sucked not to measure up to my own mark. BUT there was a huge piece of this weekend that I am very proud of - I cheerfully stuck to my own criteria. When my dogs popped off the contacts I asked them to get back on and when we ended each run we celebrated together. We were far from where we will be when we have more trialling time under our belts and we did not replicate what we are capable of at home but there was lots of learning and we will return to the ring stronger, better and more connected.
Monday 18 May 2015
Monday 4 May 2015
Big Decision, New Gardens and Dogs ... Always .. lots of dogs :)
This weekend was filled with the usual ... many different canine encounters. I must admit that my complete and utter obsession with all things four legged does not impress all the people in my life. My poor mother - she just wants to go on a trip ... it hardly seems to much to ask. And then there's lovely Sarah who, is kind and patient but I know shakes her head with my inability to be parted from my animals for more than a few days. We animal people are a clan onto our own that much is certain. I am a fortunate woman to live the life of my choosing.
I have been grappling with a thorny issue over the past months - continue to work four days a week in my teaching job OR return to full time? This whole entrepreneurial gig is HARD for me! I am not a natural. I truly don't know how people do it for their entire lives. I've teetered back and forth with what to do and struggled with what is best for the children I teach and for myself. Not sure I have a clear answer yet BUT clarity is coming.
Back to the weekend, it was beautiful. First a professional grooming for Figaro and Thyme with wonderful JoAnne Wallace, so kind and lovely and good at what she does. Here's Figaro post grooming.
My friend Karen came over and helped me paint my agility equipment. After our paining party we went for a walk with Thyme, Fenja and Isaac
I have been grappling with a thorny issue over the past months - continue to work four days a week in my teaching job OR return to full time? This whole entrepreneurial gig is HARD for me! I am not a natural. I truly don't know how people do it for their entire lives. I've teetered back and forth with what to do and struggled with what is best for the children I teach and for myself. Not sure I have a clear answer yet BUT clarity is coming.
Back to the weekend, it was beautiful. First a professional grooming for Figaro and Thyme with wonderful JoAnne Wallace, so kind and lovely and good at what she does. Here's Figaro post grooming.
My friend Karen came over and helped me paint my agility equipment. After our paining party we went for a walk with Thyme, Fenja and Isaac
Next on the agenda was gardening. Garden preparation around here is quite amusing :) Figaro and Rock are both PROFESSIONAL diggers. They are EXTREMELY helpful! They can be counted on to dig and till the soil when I ask them to. Thyme is useless, she would prefer to supervise, bark OR chase after clumps of weeds. Rock is a very good boy and takes his digging work quite seriously. Here is some photographic proof
On Sunday, apart from the usual agility and adventures around the property, the main focus of the day was a trip to the best little shelter I know, The CCSPCA in St Stephen. I haven't been for far too long. I went yesterday to hang out with dogs and help with evaluations. A fun time was had by all, except for gorgeous Eddie who decided that the click of my camera was very scary :( Poor dude
The weekend ended with a wonderful inhome training session with a charming little dog and her people who adore her to the moon and back. I feel utterly blessed to have the opportunity to learn so much from so many good dogs and good people ...
I hope your weekend was wonderful
Saturday 25 April 2015
The Power of a Good Ramble Around ... A photo story
Today was a lazy rainy Saturday. Lots of time for doing what we love best - cruising around in the woods and on the beach. First a morning walk with the young generation and my Mum on the beach
Next a woods adventure with the whole gang ... First group stays to get across the road :)
Then ... FREEDOM in the woods
Some posing
More RUNNING ....
And Finally ... some ZZZZ's
Sunday 19 April 2015
New Beginnings, New Promises ... New Rituals
I really HOPE this post will not result in this response from you. I had planned to take my dogs out for a photo shoot today. Photography has sadly taken a back burner over this crushingly long winter in South Western New Brunswick. By the time I got myself organized to take pictures the dogs were all crashed out in the early evening sun; so, the best I can do for photography today is these two shots, which I actually rather like.
The dogs are currently engaged in their post eating play session, (a ritual which is always initiated by Thyme), but I am too lazy to pick up my camera again.
I have been thinking a lot lately about rituals and how beautifully they apply to teaching, and by teaching I am referring to: teaching myself, teaching two legged students, teaching dogs and being a student of both species. I have started to reflect on and map in my mind the rituals I find myself engaging in at school, with my own dogs, and with clients. It is a curious and enjoyable process to catalog these little behaviour patterns that we all engage in.
As I work through these chains of behaviour, I have started to re-pattern the ones that are not getting the results I want. Here is a case in point.
I am currently teaching Grade Six (eleven and twelve year olds). I will admit that initially I found this age group very frustrating! In hindsight, I was not using the right motivational tools OR social rituals to engage them in learning. Things were not going very well for me. I reached a fork in the road ... continue to find their behaviour annoying and keep on trucking with my usual bag of tricks. OR try something NEW, seek to understand and to try a new set of "rituals".
As has almost always been my experience as a teacher and a learner, when I opened my mind and released my need to be in the "know" and in the "right" - I very quickly found I was able to motivate and find JOY in teaching. A new set of beliefs was essential and with these new beliefs new patterns of being emerged.
What you may ask has this got to do with dog training? WELL, everything :) When you get the "rituals" right. When you understand how to motivate your dog. When you know just how far you can push and what boundaries you need to set ... your ability to to teach will know few limits :)
What's the "new Promises" part of this entry? The promise IS that I will post every Sunday from here on in ... there I've said it - now I need to make it so and make it a ritual.
Monday 28 October 2013
Foundation Matters and new Beginnings
It was a gorgeous fall day on Friday so the dogs and I busied ourselves with numerous outside activities. As I hauled in wood and pulled out tomato plants, I found myself musing on how much I have grown as a trainer and as a person over this past incredible couple of years. My good dogs spent the day with me, hanging out, playing - free to roam but choosing stay in close proximity. They are such excellent companions.
On Saturday, I taught two Foundation Classes and watched more good dogs enjoying their people. Watching people become empowered with the essential tools to motivate their dogs to want to learn is highly rewarding for me! I can honestly say - without any hesitation - that these are by far the best results I have had with training people and their dogs. I could not be happier with the progress all the dogs and their people are making.
What's different? This is a foundation class built on what I learned from months of observing, loving and raising three litters of puppies AND from years of taking classes, reading, attending seminars, showing dogs ..... the puppies seem to have somehow solidified years of working hard to learn "stuff" about dogs as fast as I possibly could! They stripped everything down and showed me what was possible with more clarity than I have ever had before.
After class on Saturday afternoon, I found myself thinking long and hard about one of the "puppies" (now two) who lives with a dear friend of mine. My friend is taking my class and also a class with another trainer. She has commented more than once on the trainer's admiration for how quickly her dog learns new things - this makes me so very happy.
As we move towards winter, the frigid season of reflection and darkness, it is exceedingly pleasing to know that I am heading in the right direction
What's different? This is a foundation class built on what I learned from months of observing, loving and raising three litters of puppies AND from years of taking classes, reading, attending seminars, showing dogs ..... the puppies seem to have somehow solidified years of working hard to learn "stuff" about dogs as fast as I possibly could! They stripped everything down and showed me what was possible with more clarity than I have ever had before.
After class on Saturday afternoon, I found myself thinking long and hard about one of the "puppies" (now two) who lives with a dear friend of mine. My friend is taking my class and also a class with another trainer. She has commented more than once on the trainer's admiration for how quickly her dog learns new things - this makes me so very happy.
As we move towards winter, the frigid season of reflection and darkness, it is exceedingly pleasing to know that I am heading in the right direction
Sunday 20 October 2013
The Power of a Great Foundation: creating a core language for learning PART ONE
I rolled out a new class format this fall. I have competed one round and embarked on a second set of classes yesterday. I am delighted with how dogs and their people are responding to the class content and format. The focus of these classes is on building strong skills for people and dogs in a relatively short period of time: six hours of instruction. Classes are small, I close registration at six dogs. I want people leaving this class feeling empowered with a dog who has better skills than when they started and who they understand better.
As I drove home yesterday from a satisfying morning of teaching dogs and their people, I found myself once again chewing over the common ground between teaching Mathematics to young children and training people and their pets. We elementary school teachers often struggle to empower children in the area of Mathematics. More than any other subject area, it truly requires a strong foundation before children can move on to higher levels of difficulty. A big part of the challenges we face lies in the misconceptions and holes in understanding that emerge when children do not fully grasp the language of Mathematics. It is often difficult to get mathematical terms to "stick" and become part of a child's vocabulary of learning. I think this is also often the case when we attempt to teach people how to train their dogs. It is very easy to make assumptions and to speak to clients using language which we think is common or understood, when it is not.
I have so many ideas on this subject that I can hardly contain myself :) I am going to start by listing my thoughts and hope that I can then expand my thinking in a meaningful fashion.
1) What's my motivation? We lose dogs, pet owners and young students of mathematics when we emphasis the rules over making concrete connections to things that matter to them. An understanding of motivators and how to use them must be explicitly taught to the beings on both ends of the leash and to everyone in our classrooms - and trust me, this is a TALL order!
It is an exciting moment for me as a dog owner when I see my young puppies fully grasp what I have to offer them, every single one of them has needed a different set of motivators. Sometimes the difference are nuanced and sometimes they are hugely different. It is a tremendous thing as a trainer to watch a client fully embrace the power of building, maintaining and expanding meaningful connections. In the classroom, that moment when a math phobic kid decides that you might not be some luny bird teacher telling tales and that this "math stuff" might be okay after all, is GOLDEN.
2) Skill development MATTERS - children must learn basic facts to progress. Pet dog owners DO need a base level of mechanical skills and a basic understanding of how dogs learn to be able to have the well mannered pet they so desire. We teach young children how to add, subtract, divide and multiple and how to do these operations with a high level of speed and fluency. To accomplish this we need a balance of learning tasks. We need to make mathematics meaningful and tie it to the "real world" and we also need to drill the students on math facts. When teaching dogs all the basics: the stationary positions, loose leash walking and a strong recall, we need to provide powerful and meaningful motivators and make compliance with our requests as enjoyable as possible. Some drill in all of these areas of learning is often necessary to build up stamina.
3) Teach ONLY when the learner is paying attention: This is fairly self explanatory in the context of the classroom BUT I had a lightbulb moment on this front yesterday in my Foundation Class. I asked a client to ask their dog to sit. The client, (being a good student), immediately barked out the command "sit" to their unsuspecting dog who was sniffing the wind :) I thought to myself ... well, that was silly Catherine! ... chunk it DOWN! I stopped the client and issued a new set of directions: Say your dog's name (my homework includes explicitly training the dog's name) reward your dog for responding to their name - NOW ask your dog to sit. The results were dramatically different! The language of instruction MATTERS.
4) Building a Tool box for problem solving: We all fail when we don't know what to do and how to seek a solution. Dogs training and teaching young children Mathematics continue to two huge sources in my life for expanding my abilities to problem solve and think on my feet. It is a FANTASTIC rush to crack a problem! As a teacher, the moment of clarity in a student's eyes (canine or human) is a cherished gift for me. Many students, in both areas of my teaching life benefit when I verbally walk through HOW I solved a problem or better yet, how I initially failed and then proceeded to solve a problem using a new set of tools. Teaching students to articulate how they responded to a problem is an excellent way to strengthen problem solving skills, to uncover misconceptions and to celebrate new realizations.
I have more to say on this subject but I am going to be disciplined and post this. I have challenged myself to post on this blog every week. Instead of getting caught up musing on ideas which then become too huge to write about, I am going to try to take my own advice and keep things short and manageable.
As I drove home yesterday from a satisfying morning of teaching dogs and their people, I found myself once again chewing over the common ground between teaching Mathematics to young children and training people and their pets. We elementary school teachers often struggle to empower children in the area of Mathematics. More than any other subject area, it truly requires a strong foundation before children can move on to higher levels of difficulty. A big part of the challenges we face lies in the misconceptions and holes in understanding that emerge when children do not fully grasp the language of Mathematics. It is often difficult to get mathematical terms to "stick" and become part of a child's vocabulary of learning. I think this is also often the case when we attempt to teach people how to train their dogs. It is very easy to make assumptions and to speak to clients using language which we think is common or understood, when it is not.
I have so many ideas on this subject that I can hardly contain myself :) I am going to start by listing my thoughts and hope that I can then expand my thinking in a meaningful fashion.
1) What's my motivation? We lose dogs, pet owners and young students of mathematics when we emphasis the rules over making concrete connections to things that matter to them. An understanding of motivators and how to use them must be explicitly taught to the beings on both ends of the leash and to everyone in our classrooms - and trust me, this is a TALL order!
It is an exciting moment for me as a dog owner when I see my young puppies fully grasp what I have to offer them, every single one of them has needed a different set of motivators. Sometimes the difference are nuanced and sometimes they are hugely different. It is a tremendous thing as a trainer to watch a client fully embrace the power of building, maintaining and expanding meaningful connections. In the classroom, that moment when a math phobic kid decides that you might not be some luny bird teacher telling tales and that this "math stuff" might be okay after all, is GOLDEN.
2) Skill development MATTERS - children must learn basic facts to progress. Pet dog owners DO need a base level of mechanical skills and a basic understanding of how dogs learn to be able to have the well mannered pet they so desire. We teach young children how to add, subtract, divide and multiple and how to do these operations with a high level of speed and fluency. To accomplish this we need a balance of learning tasks. We need to make mathematics meaningful and tie it to the "real world" and we also need to drill the students on math facts. When teaching dogs all the basics: the stationary positions, loose leash walking and a strong recall, we need to provide powerful and meaningful motivators and make compliance with our requests as enjoyable as possible. Some drill in all of these areas of learning is often necessary to build up stamina.
3) Teach ONLY when the learner is paying attention: This is fairly self explanatory in the context of the classroom BUT I had a lightbulb moment on this front yesterday in my Foundation Class. I asked a client to ask their dog to sit. The client, (being a good student), immediately barked out the command "sit" to their unsuspecting dog who was sniffing the wind :) I thought to myself ... well, that was silly Catherine! ... chunk it DOWN! I stopped the client and issued a new set of directions: Say your dog's name (my homework includes explicitly training the dog's name) reward your dog for responding to their name - NOW ask your dog to sit. The results were dramatically different! The language of instruction MATTERS.
4) Building a Tool box for problem solving: We all fail when we don't know what to do and how to seek a solution. Dogs training and teaching young children Mathematics continue to two huge sources in my life for expanding my abilities to problem solve and think on my feet. It is a FANTASTIC rush to crack a problem! As a teacher, the moment of clarity in a student's eyes (canine or human) is a cherished gift for me. Many students, in both areas of my teaching life benefit when I verbally walk through HOW I solved a problem or better yet, how I initially failed and then proceeded to solve a problem using a new set of tools. Teaching students to articulate how they responded to a problem is an excellent way to strengthen problem solving skills, to uncover misconceptions and to celebrate new realizations.
I have more to say on this subject but I am going to be disciplined and post this. I have challenged myself to post on this blog every week. Instead of getting caught up musing on ideas which then become too huge to write about, I am going to try to take my own advice and keep things short and manageable.
Monday 5 August 2013
"It don't mean a thing (if it ain't got that swing)" - Duke Ellington
I love music but will be the first to admit that it is a neglected area of my life. I tend to forget about it until someone comes along and reminds me of how magical it is .. or as in the case of this post, I accidentally discover a piece of music and it resonates! So you may very well ask, what does this wonderful old Ellington tune have to do with dogs and dog training?
Lately, more humour, creativity and levity has been steadily making its way into my interactions with all the animals and people I work with. It is wonderful to have a grasp the pure power of invitational PLAY! Real play and playfulness requires letting go of stale notions about what an animal and people MUST do. It necessitates dropping timelines and dictums about which play items are appropriate ... and to some extent rules must be set aside, at least temporarily. It requires watching, listening, learning and inviting dogs to join you in a game OR asking them if you can join in with theirs. And it is OH SO true that without "that swing" (a lightness of being) PLAY "don't mean a thing"!
I started to understand play on a more profound level two summers ago when I raised two litters of puppies. Watching the puppies develop and learn to play with each other and the adult dogs in their lives has changed me forever in the best of all possible ways.
I've had a couple of tremendous breakthroughs lately in coaching this concept to clients. I am starting to be able to help people see the power of play and to model playful interactions. It is quite addictive so I am sure that with more practice I will simply get better at teaching the dog/human interactions required in the art of play.
Yesterday, I worked with a lovely six month old sheltie puppy. It was clear to see that his owners adore him but there was a significant breakdown in communication! They were very frustrated because they were unable to "get him to sit" OR to stop biting at their ankles. First time dog owners, these warm hearted people simple did not have sufficient knowledge about how dogs learn to know that pressing down on their young dog's bottom to MAKE him sit was a tremendous invasion of his sheltie sensibilities. What a delight it was to have the skill to easily show them how brilliant their puppy is! Within minutes he was eagerly offering sits and downs for his owners and laughing at all my jokes. Levity, lightness and know how very quickly eradicated the frustrations his people had been feeling. I very much doubt they will label him "stubborn" in the future.
When you go out to train today don't forget "It don't mean a thing (if it ain't got that swing". And remember to learn from the masters ...
Lately, more humour, creativity and levity has been steadily making its way into my interactions with all the animals and people I work with. It is wonderful to have a grasp the pure power of invitational PLAY! Real play and playfulness requires letting go of stale notions about what an animal and people MUST do. It necessitates dropping timelines and dictums about which play items are appropriate ... and to some extent rules must be set aside, at least temporarily. It requires watching, listening, learning and inviting dogs to join you in a game OR asking them if you can join in with theirs. And it is OH SO true that without "that swing" (a lightness of being) PLAY "don't mean a thing"!
I started to understand play on a more profound level two summers ago when I raised two litters of puppies. Watching the puppies develop and learn to play with each other and the adult dogs in their lives has changed me forever in the best of all possible ways.
I've had a couple of tremendous breakthroughs lately in coaching this concept to clients. I am starting to be able to help people see the power of play and to model playful interactions. It is quite addictive so I am sure that with more practice I will simply get better at teaching the dog/human interactions required in the art of play.
Yesterday, I worked with a lovely six month old sheltie puppy. It was clear to see that his owners adore him but there was a significant breakdown in communication! They were very frustrated because they were unable to "get him to sit" OR to stop biting at their ankles. First time dog owners, these warm hearted people simple did not have sufficient knowledge about how dogs learn to know that pressing down on their young dog's bottom to MAKE him sit was a tremendous invasion of his sheltie sensibilities. What a delight it was to have the skill to easily show them how brilliant their puppy is! Within minutes he was eagerly offering sits and downs for his owners and laughing at all my jokes. Levity, lightness and know how very quickly eradicated the frustrations his people had been feeling. I very much doubt they will label him "stubborn" in the future.
When you go out to train today don't forget "It don't mean a thing (if it ain't got that swing". And remember to learn from the masters ...
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