Sunday, January 12, 2014

16 months - Hard to motivate?

I was at agility class this week and was feeling a bit frustrated. We've had a couple of weeks where Kili has seemed really demotivated and slow moving in class. This started the week that she injured her hock and I assumed that the next few classes when she was slow that it was due to the leg still bothering her. However I have also noticed that she has no trouble running and playing with other dogs this week. So when she was slow in class again this week I really had to question if it was the leg or something else.

I just couldn't seem to motivate her and get her up to speed. Is the problem that she's a hard to motivate dog? I took a step back and assessed. The answer I have come up with is "no and yes". Kili is not hard (as in difficult), but she is hard (as in exhausting) to motivate. What it comes to is this. I cannot make a half assed attempt at engaging her. I have to give 110% every time. It is physically draining on me. If I am not struggling to catch my breath after a sequence then I didn't work hard enough and chances are I saw a pretty lousy performance on her part.

But break out a tug toy and tear off with it, yelling and hollering, and waving it around... then playing tug and keep away and I will get the results I want.

Here's a video from class this week showing the difference. At first I try to get her excited in a way that is less taxing on me. But she's having none of it and is not interested which leads to a very slow run where she barely breaks a trot. So I bring out a tug and give it 110%. We had a different problem after getting her revved up this way, where she thought we were still playing the same game and wanted to go for the toy. However, at least the enthusiasm was there, and once reminded that we were playing a different game she gave me a fast, enthusiastic performance. Note that when I go to do the second half of the sequence... I put her in the tunnel and for just a moment when she comes out I am not showing her 110% and she falls flat... slows down and disengages. So we try again. Note that even though I am standing still waiting for her to come out of the tunnel... my body language is showing her energy in my crouch with my arms poised as if I'm about to take off (which I am). The difference is noticeable.

What I need to always remember is that I need to be just as engaged and committed as I want her to be. If I'm not she sees it and responds in kind. I do need to try to find ways that engage her that are less exhausting for me though because that level of energy is not sustainable for very long.


9 comments:

Janette Ash said...

Hi again, I feel your pain, motivation and focus (perhaps they are one and the same in agility?) is something we are constantly working on. Well, today at the Goodwill I found a book Stanley Coren the "The Intelligence of Dogs" It's an older publication, perhaps you have read it or heard about it. He rates the level of (obedience only) intelligence of dogs. After checking the index, of course, I had to get to the chase and find out what he had to say about Greyhounds. As you may already know, they are at the 50% coming in at 49 out of 79. I would NEVER suggest that my girl is not cleaver, she certainly is, but I firmly believe she is entirely indifferent about pleasing me. Here is a little of what he had to say, "Sight-hounds... take advantage of this breeds' responsiveness to visual stimuli by using large and exaggerated hand signals during training rather than simply depending on voice commands... " So I say in support, you are doing an excellent job, we are not working with Border Collies here, ha,ha,ha, Some of his theories I may find controversial, but it should be an interesting read. He gives advice on how to increase your dogs intelligence through training and diet. Well if it doesn't work for Lilly, I may follow his advice personally, it might just improve my intelligence. ha,ha.

janette Ash said...

Just checked, my mistake they are listed at 46 out of 79... there things are looking up already. hee,hee

Apex Agility Greyhounds said...

I highly recommend the Agility University course we took. I'm sure they have other great ones as well, but this one was fantastic. I'm not sure when it will be running again but you can set a reminder on the website to e-mail you when registration opens again. It was called "Building Focus, Drive, and Teammwork in the Performance Dog".

Intelligence is hard to measure in a dog. There is a difference between true intelligence and biddability. Some dogs are easy to teach, but that doesn't mean they are smarter. Our sighthounds are independent hunters and that takes a different kind of intelligence.

I think that Kili is smarter than Summit. She solves problems on her own better than Summit. But Summit is honestly easier to train, even if it sometimes takes him longer. Because he is more biddable. He is more interested in learning what I want. This may come to Kili in time as she matures... but at least right now... I'd say Kili has the smarts but Summit is the better learned!

Janette Ash said...

I agree, who can measure intelligence. That is the wonderful and marvelous thing about dogs and animals in general. In my opinion each animal has its forte and very often amaze us with there savvy . Thanks I will check into Agility University.

Janette Ash said...

"their" savvy, I wish there was an edit.

Janette Ash said...

So checked out Agility University, looks like a great site. There are no focus workshops scheduled to-date I will keep a look out. I am curious, what did you enroll in - working, auditing or observing? Curious what you believe to be the best bang for your buck. BTW I am dating myself, I remember following Greg Louganis at the 1988 Olympics, he was the Golden Boy back then. Also will mention, Lilly was doing quite well tonight with focus on me, then a "less than social" dog in our group growled and rushed at her. From that point all was lost, it was as though she was looking over her shoulder for the rest of the class, Oh, well, we will work through it. This is first session back since the incident in October. I am very conscious about not reinforcing her anxiety but I would be liar if I said it didn't have some what of an effect on me. I will take extra effort to work around the situation and away from that dog. My trainer says some dogs are unjustifiably targets and she believes poor Lilly is one of those types. On goes the training, it is always something don't you agree.

Apex Agility Greyhounds said...

I did a working spot. The working spot allows you to post videos of your dog and get feedback on your work. I would certainly think about observing a course too if I wanted to save a bit of money or if it was in something I was pretty confident I knew what I was doing. Observing still gives you the ability to ask questions, just not with the benefit of videos. But the thing is that every team is different and what each dog struggles with will be different. Especially with a greyhound in a drive/motivation class I thought it was more beneficial for the teacher to be able to see what we were doing and give us individualized feedback since a lot of what works for a herder won't work for a sighthound.

Never Say Never Greyhounds said...

Good post!

I will say that initially I felt as though I was dragging Seven through courses. She was not trotting, but she felt really slow to me, but she is now the greyhound with the fastest average yards per second. As she got confidence in her job, she became faster... hopefully you will see a little of that too.

Apex Agility Greyhounds said...

That's good to hear! I suppose it is to be expected to a certain extent that they would gain speed as they become more confident. Everything that I wrote is definitely true, but thankfully it would appear that the hock was still bugging her a bit the last few weeks. This week at class she was dynamite. I couldn't keep up, had to send her into tunnels from several feet behind her. Just amazing. But I did still have to do my usual to get her amped first!