The Proof is in the Pudding

I have met my share of internet experts in dog training that when you meet them in person you realize they have zero practical training skills. In fact, I’ve met a DANGEROUS amount of these – sometimes proclaiming themselves experts in things like reactive dog training, who TEACH reactive dog classes and have zero control over their dogs and TERRIBLE training skills. It’s one thing to give screwed up advice about agility, it’s quite another to pretend to have the ability and knowledge to help with dangerous dogs.

The rationalization of this is that just because they can’t train their own dogs doesn’t mean they can’t train others. And, yeah, no. I don’t care if it’s pet manners, agility or reactive dog training – you damn well better be able to train YOUR OWN dog before giving advice to someone else on the subject. And if you want to proclaim yourself an EXPERT, you’d better do it SUCCESSFULLY. Simply passing on someone else’s information doesn’t make you a good dog trainer, you must understand how those methods work with real dogs in real life situations – and, once again, successfully in real life, not just in theory.

I think what people on the internet are really good at is parroting things they have read back to other people like it’s gospel, and if you do that enough, apparently that makes you an expert even if you’ve never actually successfully applied the information you are spreading. I’ve seen this even with people that have written BOOKS on dog training, when I met them in person – good lord was it apparent they were only repeating what other people have told them and had not and most likely could not apply it to their own dogs (or anyone else’s!).

The amount of truly talented dog trainers is rare, and it impresses the hell out of me to see it done well. And I have learned that I don’t care about how someone presents themselves as an expert, until I’ve seen them actually show what they can do, I’m going to assume they are just making shit up. And there are a LOT of those out there – a shocking amount! And then, boy, do people like to be TOLD what to do – the amount of cultish followings people can get is nuts to me. And these people BELIEVE that this is the ONE TRUE WAY to train dogs, and that anything else is just blasphemy. It’s nuts to me how easily people get locked into a sense of righteousness in both politics and dog training. The human brain in an interesting puzzle.

So I tend to be skeptical about training methods, but I think it’s so important to be open to new ideas, even if they sound dubious. If you only look for information on how to train with methods you already use, you’ll never learn anything new. I guess there is some legislation out there looking at requiring dog trainers to be licensed – and how you get to be licensed is through one of a couple dog training organizations that already exist … that already have very specific ways that they think is the ‘one right way’ to train dogs. And I’m not saying lets slap an e-collar on dogs, but I think e-collars can save dogs lives in situations where a more positive approach puts the dog in danger or is unlikely to work without an excessive amount of management (that an average pet person isn’t going to do). There is no black and white in training, and I can’t imagine a world where all pet trainers are going to agree to follow the training methods of just one organization. Good luck with that.

I have learned the most about dog training by watching good trainers and seeing what they do. The results will be self evident if they’re doing it correctly, and then it becomes – why were they successful? Breaking down the skills of successful dog trainers is really fascinating, but there is also the less fun project of breaking down the skills of a poor dog trainer – what are they doing to screw up the dog so badly? Now, as a ‘self proclaimed’ dog trainer – what I never had was the knowledge of how best to take the information that I have and deliver it to all sorts of different people and dogs. That’s the hard part of my job, and the part I spend most of my time trying to learn – how to package training information in a way to help everyone be successful. I’m always trying different approaches, I’ve never had a foundation class that was the same. Many of my students have taken multiple foundation classes from me through the years and they’re always, “This is so different than what we did before!” I don’t expect that to change, the fun part about agility and dog training in general is that there is always something to learn, to try, to change. New methods and approaches and it never gets boring.

So, yeah, I feel pretty darn confident I could take anyone’s dog and train them in everything in agility, no problem. Now, can I take just anyone and teach THEM to train their dog through everything in agility? That’s the hard part, and especially if I’ve had someone in classes for years and they’re still struggling with things – I just feel like I’m not doing my job correctly. I have some good excuses, so many people rarely practice and it’s just not important to them – but, still, you’d think after a couple years I could find a way to fix those issues anyway. I’m still working on that …

In the meantime, Asher is still really hard to get through a course, my plan to work on sequencing before our next trial in a couple weeks has not panned out as planned. SO MUCH STOPPING. My plan to work and reward every collection jump is part of that – because that collection is definitely not happening. I brought out the Linda M. jumping books, and I know Asher is a very good candidate for actually going through the process. Oh, so dry, so boring – we’ll see how far we get. Need to work weavepoles too … we just have work to do. But, yeah, no real sequencing – just breaking it down. We just never seem to get OUT of this mode – maybe someday.

I broke down and decided to teach Bryn how to weave before we left for winter break. I was going to wait until my arena was up and running, but I’m much less optimistic that will actually happen in February like I was shooting for. So we played around with one 2×2 last week for three sessions and she did pretty good. This week we worked up to weaving four straight poles – but it’s dicey when there is speed involved. I’m thinking we might just move to channels at this point, she understands her entries, even if she doesn’t actually DO them all the time. She’s enjoyed the process so far, I think she’ll like weaving. We have a couple more weeks of classes, so we’ll see what we get done by then.

We went to the vet this week to get Bryn’s rabies vaccination (which I had forgotten about!) and she weighed 24 lbs! At one point she was nearly 27, so that’s pretty nuts – and she’s actually gained some from her skinniest. But she continues to fluctuate with her eating vs not eating. She is definitely more sensitive at the moment, she’s pretty much a smooth coat from hormonal hair loss – we are having more of a real season this time around, I think. She’s still not in season yet, hopefully she’ll wait until mid-December which will put her at 6 months since her last. I do think that eating rotting apples in the yard is part of her issue, SO MANY APPLES. Next year I need make sure those trees get pruned.

I did finally make some vet appointments for some much neglected routine stuff. Thankful to be able to go in with my pets again. This appointment was Dragon, Haku and Bryn. Bryn was just there for the rabies, but let it be said that she was totally chill about hanging out there, the shot and anything else. That girl is one cool cucumber. Dragon has been super itchy, and I had put some Frontline Plus on all the cats, but that hadn’t had any effect – nor had cleaning out his ears. And, yeah, they found a flea ON HIM – ugh! I blame the outdoor cats, but I also blame Frontline, which clearly doesn’t work AT ALL. So everyone got Bravecto, outdoor kitties can’t come in anymore, and I treated the house (dogs are already on bravecto). Pain in the butt. But Dragon is already better, so happy about that. Next project, he’s going in for a dental the end of December – which I had also been putting off. And as long as we were there, he got vaccinated and dewormed, and did some bloodwork and checked his heart (all good). Dragon is going to be EIGHT next year – when did that happen?

Haku went in to talk about pain med options, he’s been getting monthly massages and chiropractic – but I haven’t seen much change. He’s just arthritic and stiff and I want to make sure he’s comfortable. We’re using his ramp to get in and out of the car, and I want to see what changes we get with adding some pain meds to his life. So bloodwork for him to make sure everything is okay to try some new meds, and we’re going to go ahead with a dental for him too. He’s 12, if there is anything that needs to be done, now is the time. Want to get my special guy set up for some nice happy golden years. Haku thought the vet trip was amazing, of course. And he got to go to Wilco and pick out a toy, it was a good day for him.

Bloodwork came back mostly good, but one his kidney values was a touch high, could be early kidney disease. Brought in a urine sample which looked normal, so we’re going to start him on Galiprant and see if that helps him feel more comfortable. Fingers crossed it does help, and no side effects.

Once I get Haku and Dragon squared away, Navarre and Fizban will go in and get up to date on everything as well. I assume they will both need dentals too – we haven’t really done any routine vet care for several years. Even before the pandemic it was hard to get into the vet I had been putting things off because of it. Add in two years after that and we need to get in there at this point.

Leica came to visit this week, she’s maybe 9 months now? It’s funny how she is just so charming all my dogs love her – including Bryn. Bryn can be kind of bitchy with Pixel and Demi, but Leica can be annoying as all get out and Bryn never gets upset with her at all. And that’s just how it works, Leica is just one charming dog that can do whatever she wants. Oh, the hair though – no dog needs this amount of hair, I just feel bad for her. It’s always in her eyes and it mats and always wet and the mud … yeah, don’t see the point at all. Other than her hair, Leica is a great girl though, we’re enjoying her, she’s just such a ray of sunshine, you can’t help but smile when she’s around.

We traded Leica in for Zuri, who is 6 months old now – and ALL pyrshep. Quite the dramaqueen, they are cute little dogs with a lot of personality and fun energy – but they are also such pansies. I think Pixel is one of the least wussy pyrsheps I know, but that nervous jumpy energy is not for me. Zuri is definitely more of a dramaqueen than Pixel – plus twice the hair and even more barking! They are fun to train and definitely fun to see the two of them zipping around together. Unique little dogs, that’s for sure. My dogs mostly ignore them, they don’t see them as real dogs. Bryn played with Zuri though after he had settled in. We also had Demi and Pixel, so up to 7 dogs. Luckily the weather has been BEAUTIFUL, so that makes it easy when everyone is not covered in mud and they can hang out in the yard.

Always interesting to follow discussions on what people think makes a dog ‘breeding worthy’. Titles are one that come up quite a bit, and that unless that dog has ‘shown what they can do’ by getting high level titles, they shouldn’t be bred. What I’ve found is that titles have a lot more to do with the handler than the dog – and that a more … mediocre dog is likely to have more titles. It’s easier to get ‘titles’ with a dog that is not super drivey, and is perhaps just willing to plod along next to their handler and ‘get through’ things. Whenever I see that a dog is a MACH15 I can pretty much assume it’s not going to be really ‘competitive’ agility dog – but a nice steady dog that qualifies on AKC courses a lot. And then there are those that think only dogs that have won big events should be bred. Which, once again, has more to do with the handler than the dog. A great handler can make a mediocre dog with issues shine, and of course make a truly exceptional dog to high level of competition. But at that point … how many people that have invested that much time and work into training a dog to winning high level competitions is going to want to take the time out of their dog’s career to breed them (assuming we’re talking females)? And if they do, that’s like maybe 6 puppies – none of which are going to be accessible to anyone.

So, yeah, I don’t think titles or winning big competitions is at all what people should be focusing on when deciding on which dogs to breed. But I do think you should be able to see the dog successfully doing what you are hoping to produce. Herding, agility, obedience – or just being a fabulous solid pet dog. Once again, I know a LOT – probably the majority of agility dogs – that are just terrible pets. So if someone is wondering whether their dog is ‘breed worthy’ and they want to make great pets, seeing agility titles or winning competitions tells you nothing. So many sketchy as hell dogs can still go and compete in public (even in obedience!) – but I wouldn’t pet them. Good pet dogs should come from good pet dogs, no titles needed.

The way I see it, there is no magical formula for breeding ‘responsibly’, because everyone is looking for something different – and that’s okay. Even in the world of health testing there is no black and white answers, there are no perfect dogs, you can only try to minimize risks – and even then it’s a crapshoot. And what one person considers a ‘perfect’ temperament is the absolute wrong temperament for someone else’s needs. Then the whole world trying to claim that there is one perfect type of ‘structure’, which is just a load of crap. Of course, if I had my way there would be no more breeding for arbitrary physical characteristics that negatively impact the life of the dog – but that’s what most people are the MOST attached to, unfortunately.

Watched the European Open Tryouts this weekend, so fun to see big competitions again! Some of those little dog courses are just crazy hard, the big dog agility courses are nice and open and fun – so jealous to see actual spacing. The EOTT would be a fun event to shoot for, though of course I’d never actually want to fly overseas. But, yeah, the same issues come up again and again in these types of competitions, I don’t understand why people don’t TRAIN THEIR DOGS. Crazy to me to go all the way to that type of international event and not feel confident you can push past the exit of the poles or rear cross the poles or SOMETHING besides awkwardly flail at the dog after they’ve exited – that was the solution for so many people. Handling bobbles happen to everyone, but if you can’t ASSUME your dog can do equipment without you babysitting, that blows me away to go this kind of competition without properly preparing for course challenges you can pretty much guarantee you will see. Still, lots of fun runs and, yes, those that really trusted their dogs to do their jobs made it look so much easier.

Now, my current dogs would most definitely not be ready for this kind of competition. Navarre wouldn’t take much, he has a solid foundation for it – though of course he wouldn’t be very competitive at his speed and driftiness, but I’m okay with that. Now, I haven’t worked on those types of courses in a long time, so I’D require a full re-education into actually handling things besides pinwheels.

Tryouts is a good goal for the younger dogs, even if we never do – both Bryn and Asher do not have the same foundation my other dogs (but, to be fair, have a much better herding foundation!). It’s inspiring to see this kind of agility because it does make me want to train. Do I think Asher would ever be competitive at that level? Probably not. He’s not bendy enough, and has more speed than Navarre, but so wide. To be fair, I could have probably, uh, worked on that when he was younger in his initial training, but, hey. I really tried with Navarre and while I have tempered the turns, he’s just never going to turn well – and neither is Asher (though Asher still needs the work to actually THINK about collecting at least …).

So if that was my goal, my number one thing that neither young dog has is a strong collection cue (which you really don’t need in american style agility). Jump training is something that requires time that I really have not head in my ‘train real quick before classes’ training routine. So if that arena ever gets set up I can actually go through some thoughtful jumping exercises with both of them. Neither Bryn or Asher has their ‘international’ skill foundations either. I just didn’t bother as when am I ever going to use it? Once again, when I have an arena I really enjoy working on those skills – but for the majority of my students, they will literally NEVER see or use those skills, so I don’t set them up (they just make it more difficult to get through AKC courses). So 2022 should involve getting to work on all those Justine drills with both dogs – looking forward to it! If I really wanted to take Asher to a big competition, I would want an optional stop on his dogwalk – you can get through AKC courses without one, but with that international stuff and Asher’s inability to turn, uh, yeah – we might need an emergency stop. Not sure about Bryn though, maybe.

So if the world does start to right itself in 2022, do I have any events I might think about going to? When Navarre turning seven, we are getting limited on our time here. Maybe I should think about taking him to something, though I’m not sure what … we shall see. And Asher and Bryn just need to get trained, in ALL the things. So weird to think about doing things and going places again.