FE395: The Art of Training: Developing Confidence and Flow

Wk 2.1 The Sweet Spot: Your Dog’s Ideal Training Zone (ITZ)

When you are within a training session, what you need to focus on is not the science of dog training. That takes too much thought, and thought takes your attention away from your dog.  In the moment you do not have that luxury; you simply have to respond. And to do that we are going to focus exclusively on how your dog is feeling at the moment. We're going to ignore the science of behavior and learning theory until after the training session is over.

When you're done with your session and quietly reflecting on what you did, I would fully expect that you will give some thought to how you might have handled a given situation better using what you know of science, but that is not the domain of this class. This class is about handling training in the moment, and to do that I am going to keep you focused on your dog’s emotional state because at the end of the day, I think that is the only thing that matters. Behaviors are easy to get and to modify but love of work, confidence, and a desire to work for you are much harder to  change once your dog has lost them (or never had them in the first place).

The good news is that if your dog is generally happy within training, then you will have lots of training freedom because your dog is likely to stay happy while you muddle through just about any options, even some that might be truly appalling when observed by a trained outsider.  

But if your dog is not happy, then you need to handle that first; instantly!   I truly do not care how technically correct your session is; if your dog doesn’t want to be there, then that is everything.   That must be fixed.  

If you’re working with a softer or more fragile dog that requires a good deal of leadership from you  to succeed, then you’ll need to read this part very very carefully because your dog will only stay happy if you make good decisions that support his emotional well being.  Note that I didn’t say good training decisions because this is not about training decisions.  I said decisions that support his emotions.

If your dog is sensitive and if you make a poor choice in training a behavior then you’ll know it right away because your dog’s attitude will suffer and that will be reflected in his moving out of his “Ideal Training Zone”, or ITZ for short.

His what?

His Ideal Training Zone.  

We are going to talk about setting an optimal training zone for your dog.  Let’s take a look:

On a scale of one to ten, With one being extremely low energy and shut down, and ten being over-the-top excited and unable to learn, what is the absolute highest that your dog can be in training and still succeed? That is the first question.  So let's say that you know that if your dog gets to around a nine, no learning can take place under any circumstances.  He might look happy and bouncy either from anxiety (stressing up) or sheer excitement (over aroused happy) but regardless, there is no learning at that point.

Take a look at what happens to Brittany’s session as her dog begins to make errors.   The dog begins to whine, and the dog’s capacity for getting the correct behaviors goes down dramatically.   Once the whining starts, that is your cue to either stop training, try to get the dog back into their ideal training zone, or move on to different work.  If you listen carefully, you’ll hear the change in her tone of voice when she cues the sit -  she becomes more demanding. It doesn’t work because the dog is no longer in a place to process and learn.  He is over his ITZ:

Compare that to this session.   Can you see how Britney did a much better job allowing for small errors, to keep the dog’s attitude at a better place?   The team is having fun, without hyper focus on accuracy -  the dogs ITZ is just about perfect. This is a good session: 

Now we need another number.  This is the number that you are not willing to fall below because in your experience, under that number you do not have sufficient engagement for any training to take place there either.  Let's say that's a four.  What that means is that under that number you believe that your dog’s attitude has degraded to the point where either they are no longer processing and trying, are literally beginning to shut down, are sufficiently distracted and disinterested that engagement is not likely, or maybe you simply don't like the picture that you are getting. That's your bottom.

Now we have two numbers. We know that above a nine or below a four it's time to throw in the towel on teaching anything.  Which doesn’t mean ending the session, but it does mean making changes.   It’s time to stop teaching and get your dog back in the game.

Now we want to refine that system just slightly. Note that a range between 4 and 9 is pretty broad. That's on purpose!  For starters, it gives you a little wiggle room to do some "on the fly" training.  You can experiment with your dog and see what works, as long as your dog is in that range.  And the second reason for that wide range is because what we want to see in our dogs when we're practicing a full agility course is different than what we want to see in our dogs when we're shaping a new behavior.   So while engagement is always required of a dog that is working, whether learning or practicing, energy and excitement very dramatically according to what we are actually doing and trying to accomplish.

Here are a few rules of thumb to get you started:

If your dog seems a bit flat and you want more energy, than use work or motivators in a way that gets your dog moving.  Recall a bit slow?  Throw the treats between your legs rather than handing them over -  this is the time to ignore that less than perfect sit. 

Here is Harley adding movement via a ball toss for his nice broad jump:

If your dog seems a little high, then use work or motivators that create more stillness.  For example, feed your dog quietly in a down stay.  Use plenty of cookies and give them while your dog is not moving rather than zooming around.  This is also a great time to think about what you are going to do next, while you are quietly handing over another cookie.

Here Sarah is feeding for calm:  

For contrast, here Sarah is feeding for energy:

When learning new behaviors, we want our dogs on the lower end of the scale; most of the dog’s energy should be within their brain and not expressed through their body.   For example, when shaping a brand new behavior, you might want your dog closer to a 4 than a 9.

Here’s a nice shaping session; note the overall calm and thinking environment: 

If you are training, what do you do when the dog is in the ideal training zone?

Go for it; have a ball! If your dog makes an error, do the first thing that comes to your mind. If the dog stays in the ideal training zone, you can keep right on training. Later on, you can review and make decisions about how you could have handled various issues a little better, but don't do that during the actual training session.  

Here’s a video of Brito.  We start out with excellent success!  And then I raise criteria too fast and I train for too long.  Let’s look at his behavior - his tail is still wagging; he’s still trying and I’m not upset or even frustrated.  

So I continued on.  I did no good - that’s for sure.  But did I do harm?  Not really.  I watched the video afterwards and saw that I trained way too long.  That I had too much failure and should have quit. I should have used reset cookies.  I should have moved to another exercise to give him a mental break.   But my dog?  He’s ok.   

On a side note - can you see that I am relatively quiet when he is working?  Praise and rewards come together but not normally during the work.  That is when I am silent.  But when he struggles you’ll hear a lot more verbal interaction from me.  That’s good - it makes it clear to him that I'm not upset.  

Think about how you would feel if you are learning a task that required a good deal of concentration. For example, you are trying to alphabetize a filing drawer.   Someone was sitting with you to help you be correct. Do you want them to chatter nonstop the entire time, or let you figure stuff out while they wait quietly?   And when you have completed a unit of work, do you want them to quietly hand you a candy, or do you want them to tell you that you did a super job and add a little personality to the whole thing? Most of us prefer personality. Think about that for your dog too. 

But what if the dog falls out of their ITZ? The dog starts to lose energy or the dog gets too high? What do you do then?

Stop teaching behaviors and get your dog back into his zone!  When he’s back, you can restart your training.  

The next lecture will give you ideas for getting your dog back into his ideal training zone if he strays.

Wk #2: Exercise #1 Set your dog’s ITZ:  Spend some time deciding what your dog’s ITZ is.  You should have a clear idea in your head of what each number will look like to you. When your dog is in his ITZ, what are his ears doing?  How fast is he moving?  Does his tail wag?  How intense is he?  How much does he glance away at random distractions, if at all?  If you think that there is no such thing as "too high", then think again.  Dogs that are too excited, either caused by stress, fear or anger, are not in a good position to learn, and dogs that are so excited that they are expressing extreme frustration behaviors are in a very bad place indeed.  Find your sweet spot, and then try to stick to it

Wk #2: Exercise #2: Videotape several sessions of your work and look for ITZ. What do you see? Are you staying within your required zone for the work you are focused on? Are there any things that give you pause? Are there certain reinforcers that you use that cause your dog to go outside of his ITZ; either too low or too high?   Can you use those reinforcers in a different way and keep them within your training plan, or should you ditch them altogether?  Focus on how your dog looks when they're happy and how they look when they're unhappy because that is the basis of this class. You will only work your dog when he is in his ideal range, so make sure you know what it looks like!    If you are at gold, send a video, or simply discuss the issue with me.