everybody. Welcome to the Canine Connection podcast.
Today, Lori and I are going to talk about, well,
what should we even call it? I guess just adapting,
like adapting. Being flexible during training
sessions with multiple people involved. Right.
Or even one person, right? First of all, again,
I go back to the same old saying, it's not world
peace. It's very hard to find people to train
with. And sometimes even people will use family
members or just random people they can coerce
into helping us out. or we go to show -and -go's,
which are run by volunteers. Now, let's clarify
what volunteers are. They're human beings, just
like us. They actually have lives. They have
things they would like to do with their time.
They probably work. They probably have obligations
and things they need to take care of. They decided
that they were going to take this chunk of time
out of their lives. and volunteer it so that
we can benefit from it. So I think that's really
important for people to remember that even if
you're doing a show and go and you paid $10 for
your entry or whatever the case, that person
is not making any money. That person is not real.
Oh, they get a free run. Okay, people, it's worth
10 bucks. What can buy 10 bucks nowadays? Can't
even buy you like lunch anymore, right? Like,
so they're volunteering their time. So what we
have to learn is A, to appreciate that these
people are doing this task, whatever it is. And
B, understand that they may not do it exactly
to our expectations. Oh, my goodness. And that's
perfectly fine. They're doing the best they can.
We need to take advantage of that. So I had girls
that worked for me when I had the kennel. They
would be the judge and they're just making stuff
up because they don't know what they're supposed
to say. Right. this and and they're young so
they're like trying to be funny they actually
were pretty funny and it didn't matter i was
so happy that i had a human that was going to
stand there and give my dog partial ring picture
that is going to say words to get my dog used
to hearing words that was going to move around
and provide a distraction. Maybe their timing
wasn't perfect. Maybe the angle wasn't exactly
what I would have wanted, but it was okay. I
was still getting benefit from it. And maybe
sometimes I wasn't getting, maybe I had to adjust
my plan a little bit. Maybe it was like, well,
I wanted to work on pressure, but this is kind
of not headed in the right direction. You know
what? Let me just let this person serve as a
distraction. Let me use them for distraction
work. There is always benefit there. It is up
to us to be mentally flexible, right? And say,
how can I leverage this situation so that maybe
even if I don't get what I originally wanted
out of it, but I will get something out of it.
It's that flexibility piece that's like key.
You have to be able to be flexible because if
you're not, then A, you are going to. either
get frustrated, upset, angry, which is not going
to be beneficial to your training session whatsoever.
And unless you absolutely, like, you're right,
have the perfect training partner, which you
won't, they're going to mess things up. They're
going to not get it right. They're not going
to understand something clearly anywhere, anytime,
right? And that's the piece where like we talked
about is you need to be able to flip that mindset
and be like, it's fine. This is actually good
for me because you know what? Things happen in
the ring anyway that we talk about this all the
time that come unexpectedly and we need to think
on the fly really quickly, which actually like
that was one of my big thing. I trained with
somebody for a long time who was. was a novice
handler at the time, and they didn't know all
the things in open and utility. They didn't know
the judge verbiage. They didn't know where to
stand. And it actually, or they would just mess
up the healing pattern. It would be totally not
typical. And it really actually was great. I
loved it because it made me have to really stay
focused and in the present at the time. It was
actually really beneficial. You need to be able
to flip your mindset and A, either divert, plan,
and adjust like you talked about. Or, you know,
use it as a strategy, 100 % for your mental game.
And there's, I mean, there's so much, it's so
funny what you said that it immediately made
me think of like a couple people that I trained
with in the past couple years that were total
novice, you know, beginner beginners. And I call
it a ceiling pattern. Forward. slow, fast, halt,
left turn. And I'm like, huh? Right. And I'm
like, oh, this is, and I'm like, this is really
good because it's making me think it's making
me pay attention. It's making my dog think and
pay attention. So you have two ways to go in
that moment. You can go like, and then you can
say to the person, look. that's not how it goes.
You can act like Zaina and say, excuse me, you're
doing it all wrong. Or you could say, oh, this
is really good. This is like helping me in several
ways. It's helping me. It's helping my dog, right?
Or they'll stand in the wrong spot or they'll
do something odd. Great. Right. I want things
to be like unusual. I remember years ago I used
to train with people. They like everything had
to be precise. And I would just like throw the
jumps out there, like directed jumping. I never
measured the space between the jumps ever. Right.
So sometimes they were really far apart. Sometimes
they were really close together. Oh, whatever.
Wherever they ended up, they ended up. And I
was like. you don't even know how to set up a
utility ring. I'm like, oh, apparently I don't,
I guess, right? Well, meanwhile, fast forward,
I'm at this trial and it was like this odd shaped
ring. It wasn't like, here we go. It wasn't perfect.
It wasn't regulation. And the judge set it up
in a way that the jumps were very wide apart.
And a lot of dogs messed up the directed jumping.
Well, fast forward to the NOC last year, that
one ring that wasn't set up correctly. Remember
that? And all the dogs had a lot of trouble in
it because it wasn't, it was definitely. Right.
Yeah. It was like over to the side a little bit
and the stanchion wasn't perfectly centered.
Yeah. And dogs were like, I think they were missing
the jump too, right? Like. They were. Yeah. It
was a mess. And. My dogs don't because they're
not used to seeing the exact. It's a proofing.
It's a form of proofing. It's a form of strengthening
your dog's understanding of the exercise. Exactly.
Exactly. And a little bit of like patterning,
like patterning everything to be absolutely exactly
the same. And then the second that it's not because
one day it is not going to be perfect. Your dogs
will like fall apart. The wheels will come off
because of that. Or you will, you know, like
that thing happens and you don't know how to
handle it because, oh, my God, it's not the way
it's supposed to be. Yeah. And I mean, so it's
like that with any scenario. I remember when
I was getting Tyler ready to go to England and
I knew it was going to be mass chaos there. So
one of my things I had set for myself was like,
you know, a couple of times a week I had to take
him to a new spot and preferably it was busy.
So one day I took him to a new spot and I was
like, darn it. It was like really empty. And
I was like, oh, now I have to find another spot.
And I'm like, I don't even know if I have time.
Like, you know what? I'll just do it here. And
it was great because it was really quiet. And
then in the middle of doing something, a door
opened and he totally like was lost attention.
So it was beneficial. It was not what I had planned.
It was not what I had wanted initially. But I
was like, I'll just do it anyway. And surprise,
it turned out to be. a great training opportunity,
right? So it's that you just have to say, all
right, it didn't work out the way I wanted, but
I, how can I still get benefit off of this? You
know, like I've gone to like a match and I would
really like the judge to stay close on fronts,
for example. And I'll say, you know, I'll try
to give the best instructions possible. Judge
person either didn't understand it, whatever,
wasn't didn't get it, just wasn't staying close.
So at that moment, I had two choices, get frustrated
and annoyed because that's what I had wanted
to work on. And now it wasn't working out or
pivot. So I pivoted. I was like, OK, what else
can I if I can't work on that? Right. I'm going
to just focus on something else. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. And I think, you know, going back to the
whole volunteer thing, it's just I don't know,
like I see it a lot. Like I hold matches here
a lot and not I mean, it's pretty rare that old.
or any of the volunteers that are happening to
like spend the day stewarding or judging know
everything. And, you know, there's times where
I can, you know, I can pick up on when people
are like, they're hesitant to go in the ring,
knowing that that person doesn't know how to,
you know, call all the things correctly. And
it's just, I definitely give a gentle reminder
to them, you know, A, you should be happy there's
someone in the ring at all. And B, Be flexible
about it, because at the end of the day, like
if you can't learn to be flexible in dog training
because fucking shit happens when we're training
dogs like. Yeah, that's like a skill set right
there. You just need to be flexible training
dogs. That's how I feel. Yeah. And you need to
think like. You know, sometimes people feel like,
OK, in this scenario, I need to get like the
full ring picture, like exactly like it will
be in a trial. And you're not going to get that.
You need like I don't look at it like that. I
look at it like the things I need to prepare
my dog are like in categories. Right. So there's
like distraction work. Yeah, I can do that out
in the environment. Right. So I can. go different
places, stores, parks, et cetera, and just get
general distraction work there. Pressure work,
some of it I can use the environment, but sometimes
I need a person to do specific things. So when
I have access to a person, then that's what I'm
going to target whenever I have that opportunity,
right? When I have a match, then I need to use
that to work on things that I cannot work on
in the environment or if I only have one person.
But I'm not going to get everything in that session.
So I have to kind of say, okay, like I'm going
to work on transitions or letting my dog see
ring picture and reward in that or letting my
dog see ring picture and then help them. How
can I use the unique characteristics of this
opportunity and work on a piece or two? Because
there's always going to be something to work
on, right? Right. And you have to kind of say,
and you're not going to be able to get. Like
all the characteristics, like because in a trial,
you're going to have the distractions and the
smells and the sounds and the dogs and the people
and the judge and this and that. And you're not
going to get all that. So you have to pull those
pieces out and say like and then people go, well,
how do you go to a store or like how do you work
on ring entrances? Or, for example, like I I'm
like, oh, tractor supply. And garden centers,
they give me ring entrances. They have like little
areas. There's aisles, there's gates, there's,
I mean, it's out there. You just have to think
outside the box. Right. Exactly. And like, look
for that opportunity. You can find places like
in playgrounds and, you know, and then people
are like, well, how can you, you know, sure,
I can't do. Every exercise, like in a store or
in front of a store, but I can do a lot of pieces.
I can even chain things together. Like you have
to be, again, like mentally flexible. Like how
can I leverage this? Yeah. And even with people,
you know, I'm like, well, people stand in line.
Go, you know, work around those people. A lot
of times you'll go to places and the employees
will stand there and watch you. If you say, hey,
can I just I'm just going to heal close to you
or whatever the case. They're like, OK, they
don't care most of the time, you know. Right.
Right. Yeah. And so it can't just be always dependent
on the perfect situation. You know, that's like.
Right. You have to drive yourself nuts, you know,
like. Yeah. And use kids if you have access to
kids. Oh, my God. Like some of my students, like
my one. I love her. Her granddaughter. I can't
even. She uses her all the time. She's doing
cartwheels and little handstands and like. Because
they're kids. They're free. They're not bound
by whatever craziness adults are bound by. And
then, well, no one's ever going to do a cartwheel
in the ring. Well, no, probably not. Because
most of us that are showing are like 90. But
it doesn't matter that we're not doing cartwheels.
It's the unpredictability of it, right? Like,
it's perfect. I would love, I'm like, hey, anyone
in my area, you got kids or grandkids? Hello?
Please send them my way. Because they're great
and you can teach them things. And again, even
if they don't do it perfect, you know, they hold
a little clipboard and who knows what words they're
even saying. Does it really matter? And they
actually get pretty creative themselves. They
think it's kind of fun. They like, you know,
a little role play. Well, the girls that were
like in their 20s that worked for me, I loved
it. They were so creative and goofy and silly.
It's like improv. I was like, this is so good
because like it was completely unpredictable
what my dogs were being exposed to. And the stuff
they were coming up with. And I remember like
at the beginning, there was that part of me that
came from that tradition where I'd be like, oh
my God, they're doing it all wrong. And then
I was like, wait, who cares? Yes. It's okay.
It doesn't matter. Like they're getting really
good. you know training out of this like they're
getting good distraction they're getting variability
they're getting pressure work you know it's just
yeah be mentally flexible for sure and then we
have to understand too that with a lot of people
when we're explaining things to them especially
if they're not even training dogs or if they're
really new Like we're like blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah. And we may as well be speaking
like French. Yeah. Like say what? Yeah. They
don't know what any of it means. Like walk towards
my dog. Well, you better be pretty gosh darn
specific. In this direction, facing this way,
when the dog is coming this way. There's a lot
of moving parts. There is. There absolutely is.
And yeah, I remember one time I was doing articles
at the supermarket. And so people started watching.
And then this guy's like, can I put one out?
Oh, yeah. Some stranger. Did I? And he's like.
okay. And then I'm like, all right, I guess.
And I forget which dog goes, was there looking
in there hunting and hunting. And I'm like, something's
wrong because my dog is, it can't find the fucking
article. Right. And he had put it like around,
it wasn't even in the pile and it wasn't out
of the pile. It was like around this like barrier.
Oh my God. That was great. Because Violet was
like, well, where is it? He's like, well, it's
over there. I'm like, oh, my gosh. That is great.
Serves you right, Patricia. But I didn't say
put it in the pile. He probably wouldn't even
know what the pile was. What's a pile? Pile of
what? Pile of what? Like, he didn't know. I think
I got sucked in because I did one time at Walmart.
And this was so long ago because I had Tyler.
I remember clear as day. I'm doing the articles
and I would send it and then tell him, wait and
go put the article in the pile. And then he found
it. And then I sent it the next one. And the
guy pushing the cards came over and he held his
hand out. And it was Tyler. I was like, you can't
even if it goes awry, he'll recover. Like Tyler
was very resilient. So I'm like, oh, whatever.
I hand him the article. And he put it in the
pile. He knew. He had watched. He knew. Tyler
goes out, finds our coat. But meanwhile, the
fact that he had, like, come up, stood there,
taken the article, Tyler was like, oh, this is
the real thing. I was like, oh, this is great.
Like, this is perfect. So that went really well.
So I think I was probably a little falsely optimistic.
I'm thinking how the guys would do it. But like
I've done stuff in front of like the quick check
and the kids or the high school guys are hanging
out smoking, whatever. And then they're like,
wow, look at that. And then I'm like, oh, good.
I'm like, can you just stand there? Can you just
move over here? Can you just wave your arms?
And they're like, sure. You know, so you just
have to. Like I said. Think outside the box.
Be creative. Yeah. And be nice. Gosh, please
be nice to people. Yes. Be nice and be patient.
Like, and yeah, it's that whole. I think it's
because, you know, we come in with a plan or
we come in with an agenda. And then when it doesn't
go that way. We get frustrated. Yeah. You know,
I was going to say something else. Oh, like,
and two, sometimes you might not even realize
in the moment that if it, if it went a little
bit, you know, differently than you had planned,
it might actually have ended up being. more beneficial
or like some people will say oh like um somebody
asked me this weekend like well there won't actually
be balloons in the ring right and i'm like no
but if my dog can do command discrimination in
the corner with stuff going on next in the ring
next to it and balloons hanging over their head
and hitting their tail and blah blah blah then
And they can do it happily and confidently. Right.
Then when things that could happen at a trial
will happen, the dog will be okay with that.
Right. So the whole when people say, well, that's
not ever going to happen. Well, why would I do
that? Well, there's never going to be two dogs
in the ring. Well, that's not going to happen.
No, it's not. Right. Challenges are challenges.
And if you create challenges that your dog can
win and overcome, then when your dog is in the
ring, they're going to be really well prepared.
Right. It's just the whole idea of making things
hard for the dog. However you do it, creating
little scenarios, challenges, so that it's going
to be really harder than it probably will be.
So that your dog can overcome them. Right. Yeah.
And so so that's what it should be about. So
if you get if you're fortunate enough to get
a helper, remember that you're fortunate because
for somebody that trains alone a lot. Yeah. You
know. These situations are worth their weight
in gold. And if I go somewhere and there's a
training situation or a match or a run through
or whatever the case, you know, or recently I
had seen this post where somebody was like, they
went to a match and they thought they were supposed
to be using food, but they were told they couldn't
use food. And that was ridiculous and this and
that and whatever. You know what? Life was over.
Yeah. So either leave if it's so horrible and
you can't adapt, then leave. Or how about you
don't bring food in the ring? And how about you
leave it outside the ring? And then when you
need to reward your dog, just go outside the
ring and then go back in. Or how about you use
a toy or how about you just praise your dog or
how about you say, all right, I'm going to work
on something different. Right. Like what else
could I work on? That'll work in this situation.
Exactly. Right. And then and say to yourself,
OK, it wasn't what I had planned, but I still
got something out of it. My dog still got something
out of it. And. turn it into something positive
and what are you accomplishing by putting that
negativity out there like well this happened
and it they should have let me use food and why
didn't they and how come is it that way look
it's it's their right to do whatever the hell
they want if they have a building and they own
it or they rent it and they're running an event
they are allowed to set whatever rules they want.
And you have the option to either follow those
rules or don't go. And if you go, even if it
wasn't what you planned or whatever, you need
to still be nice and just say, oh, okay, I didn't
realize, but all right, I'll pivot. I'll come
up with a different plan. Yeah. Or you can just
get the hell out and go home. Or you can leave
and go home. Yeah. Because it's just, it's not
good for the sport. It's not, you know, like
I know in our area, we used to have back in the
day, we had so many matches. I could do two matches
a weekend, almost every week. And that's how
many places we had that did matches or show and
goes, whatever you want to call them. Um, now
there are a handful, they literally book out
like six months ahead. It's insanity because
there's not enough. And we're, we're a fairly
dense population in terms of in the obedience
people throughout the country. Like the Northeast
is pretty dense. Um, so there's a lot of people
that want matches and show and goes, there aren't
that many. training parties, even training or
even just schools. There aren't that many like
classes to go to. Right. So if you are in a situation
where you have access to something like. Then
you should be you need to be really grateful,
and if you make it uncomfortable for the volunteers,
then guess what? Less volunteers. Yeah. Even
less show and goes, even less training opportunities.
You know, like we were at your building this
past weekend for three days, like volunteers
are coming in and spending the whole day for
and some of them for multiple days and some of
them drove far. They did. And like they work
their dogs a little bit. You know, like that
is a tremendous sacrifice. Yeah. Like and we
have to appreciate that. And at that point, I
don't care what they are or aren't doing, what
they're saying. I don't care if they're not loud
enough, if they're too loud, if they say the
words backwards, if they call the yelling pattern
upside down. I'm I don't really care. I'm just
like, holy cow, like what an opportunity to have.
a bunch of people in the same building, tons
of distractions, judge and steward in every ring.
Like what an opportunity. Yeah. You know, it's
like, yeah, it's like a gift because it's like
you said, like it's really rare to be able to
get situations like that. It's hard to even get
very, very rare. And, you know, it's nice if
everyone understands that, if everyone appreciates
that, if everybody just says. Thank you to the
volunteers if everyone's just nice to them. Yeah.
Just lets them know they're appreciated. And
just the whole place then just has a general
vibe of like everybody's happy. Everybody's supporting
one another. I mean, having a mimosa doesn't
hurt. You know, we had mimosas the one morning.
In general, just but I mean, it's just it's just
common courtesy. Everybody like everybody's helped
people. Right. And like when we help someone,
we're not like I know when I help someone with
whatever it is, I don't want anything back. You
know, if they if they just say thank you, that's
that's it. You don't even don't you don't even
need to write me a card. Just say thank you.
I'm good. Like I'm not doing it for that. But
that thank you goes a long way. Right. If you
act like you're entitled to it or if you act
like you don't even appreciate it, well, then
I might think twice about helping you next time.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So it's just common courtesy
and goes back to the whole be nice, be nice to
everybody. And. you know, the way you interact
with your dog too. Like if you're just in general
mad and frustrated, then people aren't even going
to want you in their ring. True. Very true. Yeah.
So just be nice. We say this all the time. Why
do we have to say this all the time? It's so
pathetic. Because there's not a lot of niceness
out there. yeah there is a lot of nicest there
is a lot of nicest there is a lot a lot of times
it's just you know it's a small percentage and
that tends to have a louder voice sometimes yeah
but knowing that how humans are it's it does
matter right it does matter when um like you
know even a steward at a trial right like everyone
can be nice but the one person that gives them
garbage that's what they'll leave with and they'll
remember Yeah, that's human nature, you know.
So I always tell my students, you must thank
the stewards. You have to like, you know, give
them grace. Again, sometimes they make mistakes
like, dude, they're getting stewards. Like sometimes
it's like kids and Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts
or whatever, like because they don't have anywhere
to get stewards. Right. So you cannot stand there
and complain that. Something wasn't set up right
or that it took the person a long time to do
something or whatever the case, because. They're
volunteers. They're volunteers. And I think that's
that's I'm sure that's true with every sport,
really. Right. Like it's true with all sports.
All sports need volunteers. to run their trials
and to run any practice things they have. And
people need to be nice and appreciative and respectful.
Yes, because at the end of the day, things can't
happen without volunteers. It's so true. Like
everything I put on in this building, I would
never be able to do it without help. No way.
that's a fact so you need to be grateful and
kind and appreciative and and even if it's just
random people like that are you know the employees
at a store and they offer to you know be a distraction
for you or to give you a hand or put something
out for you or whatever the case like you know
Just be nice to them. Thank them. Let them know
you appreciate it. Be respectful of, you know,
the place you're working. So that you set a good
example and so that they're okay with other people
coming. And don't ruin it for the rest of us.
Yeah, you fuckers. Don't ruin it. don't roll
i know it's like i had a student she's like sends
me this video she took the dog to a store and
she's training it in a store like a hardware
store and this golden retriever comes trotting
around the corner trotting up the aisle owner
nowhere to be seen no leash on the dog And I'm
like, oh my God, what is even happening here?
What is even happening here? Yeah. It's so ridiculous.
But anyway, yeah. So whatever sport you do, wherever
you go, be flexible, be kind, be creative, pivot
if you need to pivot. Yep. Sorry. Oh, what was
that? That was my phone ringing. Oh, I thought
we were going to have like a little song. We're
going to do a little dance. A little ditty. A
little ditty. A little ditty for us. We're all
going to la, la, la, la, la. Sorry, we're a little
punch drunk. We train all weekend. I don't know.
I am. I'm tired. I'm like, great today. And I
was like, oh, God, I'm like mush. My brain is
mush. Well, and that's because, yeah, like training
for three days, it takes an enormous amount of
concentration. Yeah. And it was real. Yeah, there's
just it was busy and it's chaotic and it requires
focus, just like our dogs. You know, our poor
dogs are like, oh, God, we have to concentrate
with all this chaos going on. But, yeah, so,
you know. I guess that's it. That's our short
little ditty for today because we're fried and
that's all we can manage. All right. Okay. Bye,
everybody. Bye.