Sneak Peek

 I have a plan: But what if it doesn't work?

From Positive Herding 101

In this blog we are going to look at the Troubleshooting sections of the book. After each training plan there is a section that gives suggestions of how to change the plan if it is not working for you and your dog. (The picture above is from rear end awareness, due to technical difficulties. :-)

Let's look at the first 5 steps of teaching the back.

Back - Step by step:   

1. Put 20 large treats that will roll into a bowl.
2. Settle yourself on the floor either kneeling with the treat bowl in front of you or sitting with your legs spread out to each side with the bowl between your legs. You may sit on a low stool or a thick cushion if you prefer.
3. Get your dog to stand facing you and get a treat in one hand.
4. Extend your other hand towards your dog as a hand target. Keep your hand as close to your body and the floor as you can and still have your dog willing to touch it.
5. When your dog touches your hand, drop your hand to your side. Your dog may step back to look at your face. Be ready!
6. (This plan has 15 more steps, but you get the idea.)

After the training plans there are usually suggestions for how to address problems you have encountered with the training.

Troubleshooting:

• Dog curls off to one side when backing – If your dog consistently curls to one side move against a wall, erect a temporary barrier on that side, or if your dog is backing 4 to 6 steps throw the treat to the opposite side. If they are curling to their left then throw the treat to their right. Behavioral economics should help you encourage your dog to back closer to where the treat will be delivered.
• Dog will not take a step back – If you do three sessions of Phase 1 and you don’t see any backward paw movement you can try moving to a chair and placing a treat under the seat while you sit on the chair. Your dog will have to duck under the seat to get the treat and you should be ready to mark and toss a treat between their front feet as they back out. Keep marking and treating as you did in Phase 1.
• Dog gets stuck after the same number of steps – If your dog consistently takes the same number of steps backward but will take no more the tendency is to help your dog, usually be prompting verbally or through body language. Instead of prompting your dog when they don’t take the number of steps you have determined they need to take before you will mark and reinforce, pause and wait for a few seconds to see if they will offer more steps. If they continue to stand still then offer your hand for a touch and start again. Repeat this step 5 times or until your dog offers another step.

In this example, from Positive Herding 101, there is one more suggestion that details a completely different way to teach the back. Then the text moves on to each element or criterion of the back.

Once your dog is consistently taking 6 steps backwards you want to work on different criteria, one at a time.

Backing criteria:

1. Topography of the back – This simply means your dog should walk backwards and not hop.
2. Number of steps – Work up to at least 6 steps.
3. Speed of backing – Your dog does not need to back quickly but instead focus on slow, steady steps backward.
4. Straight backing – Since your dog will be using the back to release pressure on livestock you need them to back straight and not curve to either side.
5. Handler standing – The final criterion before you add the cue back is to move yourself from a sitting to standing position.

Note:

The training in Positive Herding 101 contains detailed training plans, Troubleshooting suggestions for when you run into problems training, and ideas on how to build the behavior into a usable herding skill.

If you found this blog helpful, please tell your friends and spread the herd!

Barb

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