It's Not You, It's Me...

Dear Eagle,

It’s not you, it’s me.

Love,

Lisa


I attended a working dog seminar in New Mexico last weekend with Michael Ellis. It was an enlightening experience – quite humbling really. You see, I like to think of myself as a pretty darn good dog trainer. As good of a dog trainer as I think I am, I was hitting some walls in regards to my training with Eagle.

People in working dog circles have been telling me for months that Eagle will not make it as a working dog; that I should wash him out, sell him, and get a new dog. I was starting to believe them. I haven’t been seeing the results I’m looking for. He’s one month shy of a year old and I have been working with him since the day I brought him home from the airport at 8 weeks old. I’ve been feeling tired, frustrated, and defeated.

Still, I know there is something inside him, something special, and I just need to bring it out. I’m not just going to sell him. He’s a great dog as dogs go, and I’m attached to the black furry monster. Working dogs need toy drive. Eagle wants the toy, so I tried to play with him. Working dogs need food drive. Eagle loves food, so I tried marker and food rewards. I’ve been training and training and training. Why isn’t this working?

Enter Michael Ellis. It’s my turn to bring Eagle out and work him on the field. I had everything mapped out. I wanted to show Michael allof my dog-training prowess. Finally, he speaks the words I’m waiting to hear “Show me what you’re working on….”

I dive into my routine. I’m shakin’ and movin’, movin’ and shakin’. Michael waits about five whole seconds to bring my work to a screeching halt.

“You need to play with this dog.” Michael says. My heart drops. Owning every DVD Michael has ever produced, I know this is one of the first steps in his system of training. After working with Eagle for nearly a year, Michael is essentially telling me to start over. I whine, “But I have been playing with Eagle.” I have been playing and playing and playing. I have been desperately trying to get Eagle to play tug with me, but he will not latch on. He chases the toy well enough, but I need him to grip. Playing tug is the prerequisite for learning all the fancy obedience behaviors I was gearing up to ‘demonstrate’ to Michael.

“If you practice the wrong thing, you’ll keep getting the wrong results.” Says Michael. He showed me that I had not been executing the proper play technique. Insert palm to forehead here! What he is saying is true no matter what training technique you’re using. You only achieve the correct results if you are using the correct technique.

How many of us have fallen into this trap? Whether it’s the ‘left hand on the leash,’ or ‘dropping your slack and turning’ at the right time, or ‘moving in straight lines to teach Eagle to target to the toy,’ technique matters most. It is only when the handler masters the technique, that the dog can master the skill. When you fix your problems, you fix your dog’s problems.

So there I was, in all my glory, ready to show the Michael Ellis everything I had taught my dog, and he brought me all the way back to square one. I had not taught OR mastered the first step in training! To make matters worse, I had moved passed that first critical step, and wondered why things were falling apart. How many of us have fallen into this trap?

Teach, Practice (and practice, and practice, and practice), then Proof is the dog training mantra. Do not move on in training until you have mastered the previous skill. Unless of course, you are satisfied with inconsistent, mediocre and lack-luster results, then, by all means, forge ahead!

Next time your dog is having a training meltdown, consider the possibility that there’s something in your behavior that you need to change in order to correct your dog’s behavior.

I am happy to report that in just one week’s time, Eagle has come along leaps and bounds in his work. Once I fixed my problems, Eagle’s problems started to disappear.
Imagine that. ;)

Lisa Lucero owns and operates 5280 Hundesport LLC in Denver, Colorado, and also trains at Front Range K9 Academy in Wheat Ridge, CO. She can be reached at http://www.k9counselor.com/.