Great time in Virginia!

I just finished four days of training and teaching in Virginia. I usually visit Roanoke at least once a year, where my good friend Dawn does a wonderful job of coordinating a training clinic as well as making my dogs and I feel very welcome in her home (even though we have to hide all the marrow bones from Calix). In the past I have usually taught a two day tracking clinic for various skill levels. However this time we made the tracking sessions private lessons and also included some people who wanted help with some other things.  Each dog was very different but lumping them all together I would refer to them as reactivity/focus/drive problems - some had more of one than the other but ultimately issues with one can affect the other. I however hesitate to call them "problems" but do so for lack of a better word. I didn't work with a single dog who wasn't a product of the combination of his genetics and his reinforcement. And I also don't mean to be critical of any handler, since I have been there/done that/received a lot of stupid advice that didn't work/bought the tshirt...  It is not like they don't want to have clear communication but sometimes it can be a challenge and what we are "telling" the dog isn't always what we think it is. I do find however that the longer I train, the simpler things are when I a) understand why the behavior is occurring and b) reduce its reinforcement and/or make something more reinforcing.

In addition to working with some great dogs and handlers I was also able to keep my dogs happy and entertained. Jill got to be the "bait dog" for some of the dogs who were reactive. This involves her and Dawn have a great time playing while I worked with the other dog. Steel also got to demonstrate how you can use the things that you dogs is crazy about (sleeve, toy, etc) and use it to completely create the behavior you want. He also had a chance to do several very nice tracks. One was a pretty simple track aged a couple of hours but as it aged we noticed a family walking their dog through part of it, even throwing one of the articles for their dog to retrieve. That made it more of a challenge than I had planned but Steel worked hard and was successful with it. Calix mainly got to run in and out of Dawn's house barking loudly (retirement has its perks) and Amber was introduced to obedience, tracking and a tiny bit of agility.  Who is Amber you ask?

Here is a hint.....

You will have to wait for more information on her. I am now in South Carolina teaching tracking for several days. Jilly Bean and I are headed into Columbia to go for a run and then scout out tracking fields for the weekend.