Detour Article

I wrote this about D a few months ago and though you might like it :)

An Alternative Route


The Trials and Tribulations of training Detour


I decided to write this article when I had a training breakthrough while out walking Detour at eight months old. We tend to forget the amount of work we put into our puppies once they have grown up. We see, as others only see, the finished or at least much improved: mature and trained dog.


Detour is so called as I was not planning on keeping a puppy from Hoax’s first litter. I didn’t feel I had the time to put into a pup with a year old baby and four other dogs to care for. However, as they do, situations change and we took a route that was certainly not planned: our Detour.


From the time the other puppies left I knew I had ‘the sensitive one’. The first Agility show I took him to (along with his brother Buzz) he wouldn’t move one step on lead. I carried him to the rings instead. Everyone loves a puppy, but little D, so very worried in my arms, couldn’t cope with the squeals, scrunching and kissing that people gave him. So we found a bit of space, by the ring and sat down together, letting him make his own investigations, he was soon starting to step outside his own shell a little.


As time went on we had other fears, getting in the car, then once finally in- getting out the car, new dogs, his harness, strangers, odd objects etc etc. One thing I knew early on was that forcing this puppy to do anything would make things so much worse. Force would make this puppy just shut down and not trust even me. I needed to be his haven and security. It was sometime around then, that I decided I would become a ‘shaper’ and not a lurer. (I had mostly lured before: hence an alternative route)! This little lad needed the confidence to think for himself and to be allowed to fail, and know it was simply a step closer to success.


One of our first challenges was that he would run up and woof at strange dogs. Whenever I worked with Detour on this I always took just one (confident) dog along with me and D. I made sure I always took him somewhere I had a good view of what was coming so we wouldn’t be ‘surprised’ by sudden appearances. I started by asking him to tug intermittently during the walk which he did nicely. I then waited till we spotted a dog and I asked the same thing, he thought about choosing the other dog but it was far enough a way not to worry him so he chose me and the toy. I always made sure early on that the other dog wasn’t getting so close as to worry him. Oddly enough once we were right next to them, he wouldn’t worry. We built this up with different locations and proximity and now he is pretty good, he spooks very occasionally but mostly looks to me.


I spent some time shaping new behaviours which was a challenge for us both. I really had to think about how to shape directional cues and waits. He showed so much confidence for all of it I know shaping was a brilliant choice to make.


We went through many early challenges, he stopped tugging properly when he was teething and even after wasn’t as crazy, so we went through Susan Garretts play drive tips. Played crate games for drive and waits and socialised as much as we could. He showed good skill and promise on balance and co ordination work which pleased me greatly.


By seven months old, at the time we attended our first Pre Agility session he had improved greatly, or so I thought.


He started off working quite well but as the lesson progressed I felt him retreating into himself. Barking, lunging dogs, new challenges, strange dogs/ people and odd environments created for a tough situation. By the end I had a puppy who was just hiding his head in my arms and couldn’t focus to perform: fear and stress had overridden all my training. However I went away with a huge positive: he played: regardless of his worry he still tugged enthusiastically. I had a lot to work on but still went away with that huge positive.


I realised that another problem for him was his lead being put on and taken off, and even though in the lesson I always let him choose to come to me, it was on his belly and took time. So we did shaping sessions for collar grab/ lead on/ off. By the next week he was offering me his neck and it took a lot of worry out of the session for him.


Each week, although he always threw me something new to work on, he improved. The last lesson we had offered a real insight into shaped dogs and the confidence they have to figure things out. The dogs were asked to walk along a flat plank. I walked D over and he was nervous to go near it, less than a minute and a half later he had chosen to walk along it. Not once did I so much as tighten his lead or lure him towards it. I was one proud momma! He spent the rest of the lesson trying to pull me back to it.


Detour has given me challenges most people never even think about. Putting a lead on/ getting out the car/ walking past another dog etc etc. By letting him choose and never forcing him he has grown in confidence. I am sure if I had made him do any of those things he would have lost trust in me and our relationship would have been damaged.


Today in the park we worked on waits. Boo was barking his head off and strange dogs were running around the park. I left D in a stand- wait and moved off, teased him and watched him drive towards me and the toy with focus and confidence. Today I am so very proud of my sensitive boy and of what we have achieved so far.


22nd Feb 2010 (to be continued…)