Impulse Control

My whole pack decided to have an intervention last night and sat me down.  They explained to me that it was time that Hoot loose some of her puppy license and that I begin to require some impulse control.

There is wisdom in this pack!

Here is a video of this morning's session.  Hoot has a really tough time with over stimulation on the agility field.  When she gets over stimulated (more instinct talking than conscious brain) she wants to keep her distance (watchful from a distance), can't come, can't follow commands and can't play.



I took her out and this is how she earned her breakfast.

I had several objectives.

• I wanted to keep the excitement level fairly low so that she could engage her brain
• I wanted her attention to be focused around me
• I wanted her to be able to demonstrate that she was consciously choosing to be with me and resist things that typically are irresistible

The recall foundation comes in with my basic belief, it is the dog's responsibility to keep track of me.  Not the other way around.  When I am walking in the woods or in a park, I want them to choose to keep checking in with me.  If I take another path, they need to keep track of me.  I am fine if they run around and wonder, but not OK if they don't check in.  I think that this makes recalls easier.  I have VALUE and they WANT to check in (hence COME). 

I was asking Hoot to choose to be with me.  If she runs off it won't be nearly as rewarding as what I have to offer when she sticks with me.

I worked a lot with her on my right side.  That is the side that is the toughest for her, she wants to cut behind me.  I was also helping very subtly.  When she would wonder off, I would change direction.

I am rewarding with food and play involving the tunnel, which is VERY high value to her.

When she has a good command of a session like today, I will start to use things with more excitement--toys, running, sending her to obstacles, other dogs, etc...

It isn't that simple!

I have been reading a book "Herding Dogs, Progressive Training" by Vergil Holland. One of the concepts in there really gave me more incite into the border collie brain. He talked about teaching a young dog and keeping the stress low. In that you have to work *with* the instinct of the dog. Going against the instinct in the beginning creates stress. I believe this to be very true.

These dogs are breed to herd. That is, think, gather, collect, drive, and work with the human. Put yourself in border collie shoes for a moment. Walk onto a field (any field) and there are three dogs. Your instinct kicks in and you must create balance, keep them contained, and be in a position to get control should things get out of hand.

That kind of describes what I believe little Hoot is seeing through her eyes. It isn't the complete story to say "she is sensitive to motion", or "she is overstimulated". It just isn't that simple and I am not doing her justice by explaining things that simply.

At that moment when I am on the field with Hoot and the other dogs and she is "herding" them, I am very confident that if a bike went by she wouldn't chase it, nor give it more than a glance. That bike isn't her work, the dogs are! So to say "she is sensitive to motion" doesn't fully express what is going on.

Overstimulated implies that she is beyond thinking, she is not. She is not thinking about my agenda, but she is very capable of thinking and reasoning at that moment. It is just her agenda.

This happened this morning. Hoot was on a long line, I had to let it go for safety reasons. So, she went into work mode and began to herd the boys. There was no way I was getting her back. She wasn't going to run away, she wasn't going to stray, and it wasn't about staying away from me (completely). She was working (her work). So, we all ran back to the car, I put the boys in. I stood there and looked at Hoot, she stayed in position ready to be on task. I sat down, and without a word on my part she came running to me and greeted me like she missed me. The very act of sitting down communicated to her our work was done and she could relax.

In the long run do I want this to always be the cue to stop work, certainly not. But, it was valuable incite and a message Hoot understood.

Training a dog is about developing that common language. First we use very simple sentences, like me just sitting down. Then we can begin to form more complex messages, sitting down and saying "That will do". So, eventually Hoot just needs the "That will do" to understand that her work is done.