What new, cool things from Train 'Em Tasks - Graduate Open Task Pack!

Here's the newest product to come down the Train 'Em Tasks pipeline - our Graduate Open Task Pack!

The AKC has a set of classes which are on the "Graduate" level of their obedience classes. They offer both Graduate Novice for those dogs who have earned their CD (Companion Dog) title but aren't quite ready for the Open obedience ring. They also have a Graduate Open class for dogs with their CDX (Companion Dog Excellent) but have more work to do before they enter the Utility obedience ring. These transitional obedience classes offer similar exercises to Open (for Graduate Novice) and Utility (for Graduate Open) but, those exercises are a little bit easier for the handler/dog team. Train 'Em Tasks does have a task pack for Graduate Novice already available to customers and I'll make a blog post about that at some point. Today, I'm going to focus on Graduate Open. ;) Both of the Graduate Novice and Graduate Open Task Packs are found in our Competitive Obedience Product section of our Etsy shop!


Graduate Open is a great stepping stone for dog/handler teams who in between Utility and Open in their showing career. In the Graduate Open class, the exercises are the same basic exercises that are found in the Utility ring: Signal Exercise, Scent Discrimination, Directed Retrieve, Moving Stand/Exam, and Directed Jumping. Unlike the Utility ring, Go Outs are a separate exercise on their own where in Utility, they are part of the Directed Jumping exercise. The title abbreviation for Graduate Open is GO and to earn that, you must qualify 3 times under 2 different judges, just like the regular obedience classes.

What makes the Signal Exercise different in Graduate Open versus Utility? A couple of things and you'll see that it's just a couple of small things with all of the exercises. To be able to pull off a qualifying score in Graduate Open, the dog and handler has to have a good grasp on the Utility exercises and be actively working towards the Utility ring. So, in the GO Signal Exercise, the heeling part is the same as UD Signal Exercises would be. But in GO, the handler may give the command and/or signal the dog to stand when told
by the judge. The handler will leave the dog and walk out about 10 - 20' and the judge will signal to down, sit, come, and finish.

Scent Discrimination in Graduate Open is one article only and not two like the Utility ring. It is up to the handler if they will use a metal or leather article for the article the dog will bring back. The pile is made up of only 4 articles (2 metal and 2 leather) and the dog/handler team will stay facing the pile during the whole exercise. So,  there are some significant changes to the Scent Discrimination exercise to make it more doable for a Graduate Open team.

Directed Retrieve Exercise or as a lot of people call it the glove exercise has pivots and the same distance between the dog/handler team and the gloves as the exercise would in the Utility ring. The GO difference for the Directed Retrieve exercise is there is no glove 2 in the center. So, the dog and handler only has to worry about gloves 1 and 3 which are located in opposite corners of the top of the ring.

The Graduate Open Moving Stand and Exam is another exercise that is pretty darn close to the Utility Moving Stand and Exam. The dog and handler heel forward as told by the judge and when told to "Stand your dog." the handler may pause or hesitate when giving their dog their stand/stay command. Then they
must move forward 12' out and stand to face the dog. The rest of the exercise is performed just as it would in the Utility ring.

The Go Out Exercises...like I mentioned before, this is rolled into the Utility ring's Directed Jumping exercise. As the stand alone exercise in Graduate Open, it starts with the handler and dog in the middle of the ring in between the two jumps (sort of like where they would stand to do the glove exercise) and facing the top of the ring. The judge says "Send your dog" and the handler commands the dog to move away from them and go out about 20' past the jumps and there the handler is standing. When the dog reaches that distance, the handler will tell the dog to sit just like in Utility. The dog needs to stop, turn, and sit facing the handler and points wouldn't be taken off for non-square sits. Unlike the Utility Go Outs, the handler will go and return to the dog in heel position like they would in a stay.

The last exercise in Graduate Open is the Directed Jumping Exercise. Since the Go Out is done separately from the Directed Jumping exercise in Graduate Open, the dog must be placed in position at the middle of the top of the ring by the handler. Just like in a recall, the handler will leave the dog and go to the middle in the opposite side of the ring and then face their dog. The judge will tell the handler which of the bar jump or high jump to send their dog over. Just like in Utility, the handler may turn towards the direct their dog is coming while the dog in the air over the jump. The dog has to front just like in a novice level recall and then finish. The GO directed jumping exercise is only one jump unlike Utility where the exercise is done only once.

If you and your dog are done with your CDX and are taking some time to prepare and train for the Utility ring but aren't quite there yet...Graduate Open is a good prep for the next step. I think that it could also be helpful for those handlers who have never set foot into a Utility ring before. Graduate Open might help those green Utility teams to work through some ring nerves for both the handler and the dog before hitting prime time in Utility A. So, if you're toying with the idea of getting your GO...GO FOR IT!! :D

Train 'Em Topics! - The Why in Dog Training and Why It Matters:

           This post is derived from a photo I shared on my Facebook page a while back. I was going to make a cute comment about the photo which was a little kid standing next to a very large dog and it had its arm around the dog. There also was a quote from Orhan Pamuk which said "Dogs do speak, but only to those who listen."

     I had a moment in an agility class once that involved Ocean. He is much more environmentally sensitive than Lars is. He notices things that Lars typically doesn't give two hoots about. Sometimes those things bother him and that's something I've become more aware of. Anyway, Ocean doesn't usually have start line stay issues in the classes I have taken with him. But for the last run

Good Wait, Ocean...

that night, I left him and headed out to where I wanted to lead out...when I got there, he was standing in place. He wasn't moving...but just standing. I went back and re-set him back in the sit and told him to wait. I did my lead out again and when I turned to look back at Ocean,  he was standing again. This was something that was different than what he had done before...when he does break his start line, he will start running. But, he was standing with a look on his face...and he was uncomfortable with something. It was like he was trying hard to stay but he was very uncertain. I looked up and just a couple feet behind O was another handler and dog playing a vigorous game of tug. I hadn't noticed them until I saw O's expression. Typically people standing behind a dog holding a stay can create a good bit of pressure and with some dogs, that can be unnerving enough to the point they break the stay. That pressure can be increased adding movement to that position behind the dog. The pressure that people is creating can be magnified the further and further the dog's handler moves away. A dog of Ocean's age (he has a year and a half old at the and experience, it doesn't surprise me he did what he did. I have not proofed a stay with Ocean with that much pressure (or much pressure at all at this stage of the game.) That is something we need to work on, especially as he does more and more obedience. But, I want to gradually expose him to increased pressure during a wait/stay  in a way that he is successful and confident when dealing with it. A dog of Lars' age and experience, I would expect them to stay despite a person and dog playing tug behind them.     So, I returned back to Ocean and set him back in a sit. I asked the lady who had been playing with her dog, if she could just hold off playing until Ocean left the start line. She was more than happy to do that and placed her dog in a sit. Ocean held his start line perfectly with them just standing right behind him. That sort of pressure was okay and the play was too much. Ocean was trying to tell me that and I listened.

     Dog do tell us stuff all the time in their behavior...but we as trainers should really listen to the message they might be trying to tell us. I distinctly remember thinking "Why is he doing that?" as I stood on the other side of a tire jump and a bar jump at class looking at my young dog standing when he should have been sitting. But, I'm the kind of trainer who likes to know the "Why." If I don't know the "why" behind incorrect behavior, then I can't really fix it.

    There are trainers who are in the mind set of "just fix it" and not bothering to know why is their dog doing what they are doing. There are trainers who don't like dealing with problems and will attempt to put a training band-aid on where they have weak spots in their performance and even their relationship with their dogs. Figuring out why your dog is behaving or performing incorrectly will get you to understand your dog on a deeper level. Sometimes, the problem doesn't lie with our dogs. Sometimes the problem lies with us and we need to put our handling under a microscope. Maybe we're not cueing the dog correctly, maybe we're not clean with our handling, or maybe we're not showing up the way we expect our dogs to show up in our training.

    I know they appreciate that you are listening to them. I saw that when I left Ocean for the third time with no one playing behind him. He was relieved that the pressure was gone and he could do his job. I know now it is a weak spot in our training and I have a game plan on how to address it.  If I had gone in and read him the riot act about not staying put, that wouldn't have been fair to him because we haven't proofed something like that. He's the kind of dog that if I had gone in and really corrected him for not being able to handle that sort of pressure...I would have put a huge dent our relationship and eroded that trust I'm trying to build between us. Ocean is more my husband's dog than he is mine and That was one of those times where "Oh, just fix it..." would have blown up in my face.

    Trying to figure out "the why" can be hard and it may not be a quick fix...but it will be worth it in your relationship with your dog and your performance in the long run.

Tasks Indepth: Agility - Angled Jumps

      I'm a little bit behind the 8 ball with making this post since I pulled this task card for Ocean on Thursday of last week. **blush** So, the agility task bag told me to break out some lines of angled jumps for Mr. O. Which is a good task for him since he's still trying to figure out what he needs to do to adjust his striding while coming down a line of jumps.

     This particular task card is from our Agility Jump Skills Task Pack. So, I again used my Nancy Gyes' Alphabet Drills book for my sequence muse and chose her "Z" drill but put my own spin on it. Ocean also has had some issues with gauging his striding on long, straight lines of jumps. He tends to get one speed going and won't deviate from that speed even if he needs to collect to get over a jump. He's big enough that he can take a bar down with barely noticing he's done it....or he's athletic enough that he can do some crazy bounce jumps with no stride to get over the next jump. Neither of those, I really want him to do. I ended up taking four jumps putting them into a straight line, at different angles, and at varying distances between the jumps.

The first time I sent Ocean through, the first jump was not a problem. But, he had built enough speed and momentum that he bounced (this means, he landed and the jumped from that spot with no running stride) between jump 2 and 3 and then flung himself over jump 4. Okay...not really what I was looking for. I've begun to teach Ocean a verbal collection cue which was unintentionally taught to Lars over the years of trialing and training. Lars' word for collection was "Easy." I've been using "easy" more and more with Ocean when I am decelerating and I saw that Thursday with this task card...he's actually starting to understand the verbal cue.

        I started Ocean over at the start of the line of jumps...and I used "easy" in the place where he started to think about bounce jumping. And, wouldn't you know it, he powered down a couple of notches and actually put in a stride between 2 and 3, chipped in nicely at the take off and got himself over jump 4 with control. I just about fell over. Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I sent him through again coming away from the house and used my easy command...and he was able to collect and put in a stride. Good Boy! So, I brought him down to what was jump 4 and made that jump 1 and ran towards the house. I wanted to see if Ocean could generalize what he had just done going the opposite direction. No...he didn't and he bounce jumped 2 and 3 again. No biggie. We went back to the new jump 1 and this time I had told him "easy" again before he entered jump 2 and 3...and he collected his stride and chipped in at take off. He is starting to understand that verbal collection cue!

      We spent the rest of this training session going through the 4 jumps with me changing the severity of the angles and the distances between the jumps so that way Ocean really had to think about what he was doing instead of becoming patterned to the same striding and angles. The "easy" cue was used each pass and he was listening and was changing his stride and not bounce jumping jumps. (I do have a bounce jumps task in the Jumping Skills Task Pack. That is more like a grid exercise to teach a dog to power from the rear to get lift over a jump. The jumps are set close together and there isn't room for a stride or two in between jumps. I just wanted to clarify why there is a time and a place for bounce jumping...this line of jumps O and I were working on here was not the time or the place.)

    I cannot tell you how happy I was that we ended up working this skill a couple of days before our USDAA trial this past weekend. Our P1 Starters Jumpers course was loaded full of jumps at funky angles. If we hadn't just worked this two days before, I probably would have had a stroke when I saw the course map. 

No joke...there were some of the same lines we had worked on in our backyard. With some well timed "Easy" cues and some other well timed "GO!" cues...that baby boy O nailed this course with a Q and a first place.

     Hopefully, this blog post will help give some ideas on how to work "Angled Jumps" when they get pulled out of your tasks grab bag!! Happy training everyone!!

Tasks Indepth: Agility Flatwork

     

Agility flatwork (also known as shadow handling or circle work) is a skill that is a critical part of every agility dog's foundation training. In a very large nutshell, flatwork teaches your budding agility dog to run along side of you and to follow your directional and speed cues. I didn't realize until recently with my own dogs how little weight I put on Flatwork in the beginning stages of their agility careers. The foundation classes I took with Lars years ago just touched on flatwork in one class for about 15 minutes. I thought to myself in my newbie agility handler mind "How important can that be?" and it wasn't really ever discussed again in class. Ocean had done a lot of foundation training at home before he  got into an advanced beginners class. Again, I didn't spend much time on flatwork like I spent on obstacles and teaching "fun stuff" to him. It was this summer that I started to see some early Lars like behaviors (running past me, not staying with me, etc.) pop up in Ocean while running agility. After some serious thought and mulling over the issues of how the same problem popped up in two different dogs...I decided the problem lay with me and what I had or hadn't taught them. What I hadn't done was putting in the time and mileage with flatwork.

   When teaching a dog flatwork, you are more or less teaching them a lot of the handling moves they will see you make in agility without the distractions of the obstacles. If you really think about the sport of agility, your dog spends the majority of its time on a course running to each obstacle than actually performing those obstacles. What happens on the ground from obstacle to obstacle is as important as what your dog does with those obstacles. When one does think about that, it becomes very clear that teaching your dog to focus on you, your body language/movements, and your changes of pace needs to be in your training tool box. This is where you teach your dog deceleration and to accelerate based on your body language and your speed. Flatwork (as I found with my guys) can help an obstacle focused dog become much better balanced out with handler focus at the times when you need your dog to check in.

   Flatwork is truly the backbone of agility teams. While it teaches your dog how to read handling movements without distracting obstacles, it also develops a communication line between you and your dog. When we as handlers are working flatwork, we become more aware of what you're telling your dog through your movements. Before I work some flatwork with Lars or Ocean I make sure that I have a clear picture in my head about what my cues will be for each dog. I've lucked out with my boys because they both run in a similar manner and I don't have to completely change out my handling methods when running one or the other. Handlers with dogs who run as polar opposites may have to do a dry run of flatwork without their dogs to get in the frame of handling each dog needs.

    Some basic flatwork exercises are:

     - Large circles in both directions - This helps teach the dogs to work rounded distances to the right and the left as well as lateral distance.

    - Front and Rear Crosses on the flat - This helps the dog learn lead changes and direction changes.

    - Serpentines - This is a must have for higher level courses. Dogs will learn how to change their pace and turn in tight areas.

    - Small circles/Figure 8's - These teach dogs how to negotiate tight obstacle sequences like 180's in higher level courses.

I find that Lars can run both directions easily with small circles. Ocean has a hard time on the inside of the these circles and he doesn't yield well to me turning left and towards me.

    - Straight Lines - A lot of handlers take straight lines of obstacles for granted and that their dogs will do them easily. But it's best to work that into your flatwork program as well. 

     Now that I have been playing in agility with my dogs for a while now, I am continuously going back to it throughout Lars and Ocean's career. I will keep going back to it because it helps maintain the definitions of my handling to the boys as well as letting me reinforce them when they respond correctly. Sometimes you can even use flatwork as a type of game to play with your dogs because there's no pressure of obstacle performance. It's just a game of follow me and that can be a load of fun for both handler and dog.

     If you want to learn more about how to teach your dog about Flatwork, (there's a lot to know on how to do it correctly) look for Barb Levenson's book Flatwork: Foundation for Agility. I picked it up from Clean Run earlier this summer and found it absolutely wonderful. It explained things well and thoroughly. So, pick it up for your agility reference library! It's a book you will refer back to every time you get a new agility partner.  

Why "Play" should be in all handlers' training tool boxes

Play is an ability that is much needed in the tool box for any dog trainer, no matter what the sport. It is also very valuable for those dog trainers who are not involved in sports but have their dogs as companions. Despite it being very valuable, not many people put much time into developing play skills with their dog training.

    Whenever I bring up the play discussion and want to see someone play with their dog (who may not necessarily be a "play person"), they do one of two things. The first is they may pet their dog with some verbal praise and that's the end of it. The second thing they might do is wag a toy in front of their dog, then push it into their face...and say "See! My dog doesn't like to play!" The one thing few people do is play like a dog. When you watch dogs play, they stalk, they freeze, they run forward, and they retreat. It's almost like a dance. Some dogs will truly rough house and some will 

Ocean Playing with Dad (and Lars - Party of One)

act like fencing partners never making contact (this is how Lars and Ocean play,) and some will run and run chasing each other playing tag. 

    To create meaningful play with your dog, copy their play style - the advance and the retreat. Gently touch, tap, or push (depending on your dog's personality) your dog and quickly scurry away. Your dog will eventually follow your lead...but if this is something that is totally not your style, it may take them some time. They might be wondering what aliens could have done with their owner! Keep on with this play dance until your dog is very engaged with the game. Make sure you change up what you do...running in different directions, vary your speed, stalk them, making yourself taller and shorter. Be fun! If you are playing the way you dog likes, you will be tired at the end of a play session.

    If getting silly with your dog is something that is far outside of your comfort zone, venture out there and go for it. Play builds solid relationships between the dog and the handler. Play should be a part of your regular training plan and it should happen spontaneously when working with your dog. I, as a trainer, make it a point to make my training and work a game...so the training itself is play. I do play a lot with the boys in between each drill and exercise and try to bring so much enthusiasm to what we're doing they come to love "the game/work." When I do play with Lars and Ocean, a lot of the time I have no toys on me and I do that on purpose. When you are in front of a judge, you have no food and no toys...you can only bring yourself into the ring. So, my play with them involves just me so I "practice" engaging them regularly so it becomes almost second nature when I really need it. Being able to play or motivate with a dog with no toys or no food is worth it's weight in gold and a tool we all should have at our disposal.

Welcome to Train ' Em Tasks

Welcome to the first blog post for Train 'Em Tasks!

Some of you who will find our blog whether it be through the website or through social media might be familiar with the Train 'Em Tasks products. But, for those of you visitors who are not familiar with Tasks as I call them, I'll take a moment to introduce you to what Tasks are.

How Train 'Em Tasks came about was I made a ton of little tiny task cards with various exercises, drills, and some even say "play" for both agility and obedience. Each sport has their own grab bag of cards and every day I pull a couple of cards and that is what the dogs and I work on for that day. I tend to become scattered and/or overwhelmed with training since I do train multiple sports and the tasks keep me focused. When I'm focused, I can concentrate on detailed training with the dogs.
     I've really come to embrace my bags of task cards idea so I don't hammer things that don't need to be

hammered or to make myself work on stuff that are foundation skills or things that I'm avoiding for whatever reason. I find (especially in agility,) it's so easy to just go out there and run stuff just for the sake of running. That's where I get into trouble....I just want to work on advanced or new stuff and not maintain skills we have or revisit old skills. Train 'Em Tasks makes me work on maintaining skills I would blow off. If I pull the same card 3 days in a row...we work that piece of training for 3 days in a row. Then I may not see it again for a week. The cards help randomize your training so you don't get stuck in a training rut.
    I discovered something about using these little tasks while I've begun my Utility Obedience journey with Lars. He's been learning all of these new exercises and he hasn't become very confident with them at this point. If I pull an exercise or task that he knows, I can see him light up like "Okay, I got this!" I think it really helps him from becoming too stressed out with always working new things.

How to use the Train 'Em Tasks system:

  

The task cards are to be used with the Train 'Em Tasks grab bags. To make your daily training game plan, pull a couple of task cards from your grab bag and train those exercises. For obedience I might pull 3 - 5 cards and work each exercise for 5 - 10 minutes depending on the task. For agility, I will pull two task cards and pick drills, sequences, or a course that will work those tasks. After you have completed your tasks, you can put them back into your bag or set them side until your bag is empty. That way, you can make sure you and your dog work all of your tasks (I personally have a separate bag for spent tasks.)

    And about those "Play" Cards....they are important. We as trainers forget to truly enjoy our dogs sometimes. Play helps maintain a good relationship between us and our dogs. If I pull a play card...I will break up my training time and play with my dog while training. It could be a good game of tug, fetching a ball, or just chasing each other around. I will play as long as I train something...and that could be up to 10 minutes. Some days, you may play more than you train...and that's probably a good thing. ;)




I had originally thought keeping in regular touch with Train 'Em Tasks customers with email newsletters might be a good idea. But, as time went on, I realized that may not be the more effective way to reach people. Blogging made more sense the more I thought about it. So, I will be posting thoughts and musings on dog training, how to's on different topics with the trusty Black and Tans as demo dogs, and what's new and exciting coming off of the Train 'Em Tasks production line.

Happy Training Task Nation! :D