FE315: Are You Ready? Trial Preparation for Competition

1.3 Generalization

The importance of generalizing the behaviors you have taught your dog can’t be overstated.  What does this mean? It means that just because your dog knows the behaviors you have taught and can easily perform them on cue in one location doesn’t mean your dog knows them and can easily perform them in another location.   I can’t tell you how many times I have heard a handler say after leaving a competition ring, “I don’t understand why my dog failed! He KNOWS this! He has done it correctly hundreds of times at home!”. 

Unfortunately dogs don’t generalize trained behaviors easily.  When you take away the context in which they learned something, they may no longer know it.  Until the dog can respond to your cues quickly and easily in many different environments, the cue is not well known. That means that making sure your dog can perform all the required behaviors in many different places and environments is a critical step in trial preparation.  

Think about this:  Remember when you first learned to drive?  That first lesson was likely in an empty parking lot.  After practicing there a few times, you probably got pretty good at it. You were driving different directions, changing speeds, stopping nicely and maybe even parking between the lines.  Did that mean you ready to be the driver on a multi-state road trip or to even test for your license? Of course not! You needed to practice in other places. You probably went from the parking lot to a quiet street in a neighborhood with a low speed limit and no kids out playing.  Gradually, you went to busier places with a higher speed limit. Maybe a town or small city. You probably practiced quite a bit before you tried freeway or big city driving. Then, maybe, you were ready to take your test. The same is true for our dogs. They need and deserve the same thorough preparation before being asked to perform before a judge.   You will feel more confident for it too! 

Each week, in this class, you will have a generalization assignment.  Your job will be to find a new location to train your dog. While you can get very elaborate with this, you don’t need to!   Bring what you need to work on whatever you plan to practice. If agility is your game, you could start out with a few cones!  If rally is your game, a few rally signs might be nice. I like to bring a small set of ring gates for context. You definitely don’t need a full ring set up.  In fact, you don’t have to bring any equipment at all. Going to different places and just working on acclimation, engagement, and/or a few simple behaviors is fine!!     

Think about your dog’s experience level and choose a location that will set you up for success.   If your dog has not had much experience training away from home or your regular training location, choose a quiet park or even an area of your yard or home you have never used for training to start with.  If your dog has had more experience and success in a few places, find a new one and see if you can raise the bar just a little.  

When you choose a place, go there and set things up. Be sure to give your dog the acclimation time he or she needs.  Scale back the difficulty of what you are asking from what your dog can easily do in your normal training space but maintain criteria.   For example, if you dog can do a full heeling pattern at home, maybe just ask for a few steps of focused heeling in the new place. See what you have.  Can she do it? If not, make it even easier. Is your game agility? Maybe you have a nice start line stay and can lead out 4 obstacles in your regular training area.  In a new place? Work a start line with one obstacle, or none. Try just a sit stay, walk to the end of your leash, drop a toy and release. Celebrate any success no matter how small it may seem. This is a time to use higher value reinforcement too!!

Some stores that are known for allowing people to bring in dogs and don’t mind us training in their stores are Tractor Supply, Home Depot, and Lowes. There may be others. 

The clip below is from a very cold winter holiday and I took Hartley to the post office to work on Figure 8s.  All I needed was treats and a few small cones

Here is a short clip of a session at a Tractor Supply.   All I brought was my dog and some treats!

Below is a short clip from many years ago as I was working with Hartley when he was very young on weaves.  This was away from home in a public park.  

Pictured below is a more elaborate set up from a time I took my dog to a local park to work on Obedience.  Not in the photo, off to the right, was a group in the distance barbecuing with children playing. They were far away but visible and I am sure Hartley could smell whatever was cooking.  On the back side of this “ring” near the woods was a path and we did have joggers go by, some with dogs. I brought some ring gates for context and a couple of jumps. I don’t recall what exactly we worked on that day but I know I had very high value reinforcement. This was hard for him. 

Plan for When it Doesn’t go as Planned

You have decided to take your show on the road!  You have carefully selected the location. You know what you want to practice.  You have everything you need. You have high value reinforcement. You have a plan.  You are excited! You go to the new place, your dog has acclimated, you try to get to work.  Your dog just can’t do it.  

• First and foremost, believe your dog! 
• Give more acclimation time and try something easier.  Have that Plan B in your back pocket in case your dog isn’t up for Plan A. 
• If your dog still says no, pack it in and try a different (easier) location on another day. It is okay!  

The important thing here is to accept what your dog is telling you and adjust the goal for the session accordingly.  This sounds so simple but can be incredibly hard to do. Sometimes a location is much harder than we realize. While it is disappointing to drive home from a planned training location when it doesn’t go as well as we hoped, it happens to all of us! It is not a failure, it is just information.  If it happens to you, feel proud that you tried something, listened to what your dog told you and now you can plan accordingly.

Homework 1:  Show me you and your dog working in a familiar location.  This is just a baseline so I can see how things normally look. 

Homework 2:  Find a new location and show me what you have there. It can be inside or outside.