Train the Dog in Front of You
One of the best pieces of advice in dog training is “train the dog in front of you”…because we all know (but do we really?) that all dogs are different, with their own personalities, likes/dislikes, emotional states, learning styles, timelines and maturity levels.
Keen (who just turned 4 yrs old) came after Nick (who just turned 11 yrs old) in my dog journey. Both border collies, both from working lines, and they are even related through Keen’s sire who is a half-brother to Nick. They are really different. Not just in the obvious ways like the fact that Keen is a **really** big boy (56 lbs to Nick’s 36 lbs). Keen is slow twitch to Nick’s fast twitch. Keen thinks while Nick responds. Keen is more confident than Nick in some ways. Keen has big (positive) feelings about every person he meets while Nick only has big feelings about me. They learn differently but I firmly believe they can both get to the same place, if I “train the dog in front of me”.
In April, Keen had his first trial experience in nosework. It was a Level 1 Container Element trial (L1E) and a Level 1 Interior Element trial (L1I). It didn’t go great as I wrote in an earlier blog post. As a result, I pulled him from a NW1 trial I had entered and went to work addressing the issues that were revealed on that trial day.
Back in May, I entered him in a NW1 trial to take place on July 1st. It was only because I the trial fell the day after Nick’s NW3 trial that I even took the chance. Although we had been working our “plan”, I wasn’t sure he was ready yet.
Well, reader, do I have to say that it went well?? Yep, those ribbons all belong to Keen! I am so proud of him and how he stepped up a mere 3 months after clearly feeling overwhelmed in his container trials. I was happy and amazed!
The trial conditions were ideal for us. We had a full day on the site the day before during Nick’s trial, where he could get used to the outdoor environment and seeing people coming and going without feeling like he had to be a Walmart greeter. And the entry to each search was identical so after the first search (exterior), he knew what was coming and why we were there, getting right to work from the start line, earning a couple of placements and 3 “pronounced” designations. I couldn’t have asked for more and when they announced he had taken 1st place overall, you could have knocked me over with a feather.
I’ll enjoy this result for a long while and we’ll keep working together – training and trialing…at our pace. Mostly we’ll keep having fun and enjoy each other – and after all the results are tallied and ribbons displayed, that is the only thing that really matters.
