II find the whole concept around training under threshold, really fascinating, and probably the key in a lot of respects to Caspers reactivity. We have 2 very different dogs. One thoughtful, calm and able to think....you can see him working things through, mostly. Of course he is young, and can easily get overstimulated if I am not careful. Now the other one. Reactive and hyper vigilant. Easily becomes stressed. Compelled to run off...often is cruising along barely under threshold, and usually just over. So, this has got me thinking, now I can think..but can Casper? Yes in the house, garden he is amazing, and for an older dog picks new cues up more quickly, quicker than Benson. He is relaxed and quiet, doesn't even bother visitors too much at the door. Very different picture when out on walk, a walk anywhere, unless he knows it is a quiet woodland walk, he really likes those. So I am wondering, and this is and partly triggered by our gundog lesson with Benson last week. What would a walk look like if he was well under threshold? How do I achieve this? Lots of what I have to do is around management of his stress, so lots of coping strategies. plus our walks tend to be quite active....Benson bouncing around, wanting to DO stuff! This morning I decided to try an experiment to test this "thinking under threshold" theory. I wanted to find out what Casper chose to do if he was very, very calm..and so was I. I took just Casper out into our top field, It is huge, quiet footpath leads to it, and borders on a wood. We walk slowly up there. Then I wait. I relax, slow my breathing and look at a fixed object in the distance, I don't ask anything of Casper. I stand still, but relaxed, but ignoring Casper. He stops trotting around, then just stops, but continues to stare around. I still ignore him, and stand quite still, slowing my breathing down, watching the birds circling a church in the distance. He then turns his attention to me, and starts staring at me. Still I am quiet, but move around just a tiny bit. All this is taking around 30 mins, maybe a little longer. In the end, Casper is really close, and offers me a sit..now this is interesting, because often when I ask for a sit on a walk, I literally have to wave the treat in his face to attract his attention.. I think at this point he is thinking, relaxed and focussed on me...and wondering what it is I am after. I treat him, and move away a little, he follows very close so at this point I decide to drop treats for him. From this point on he stays very close, we do 2 short dummy retrieves and leave it at that. Later I also ask for a sit, hands behind my back, using just a very quiet voice. And yes, I get and instant sit! (BIG grin here....) Walking home Casper is wonderful, walking very slowly and calmly beside me. Not distracted by anything. I think definitely something to work with though, not just Casper being relaxed, but also very importantly myself.
That's calmed me right down, like yoga. Well, you have given yourself some answers there - what next?
Sounds a very productive experiment . Calm an relaxation works wonders for us and our dogs. Just need to practice the calmness - not always an easy task
Wow, I also feel so calm after reading that. It is easier said than done for me. I'm trying really hard to remain calm these days. I've noticed when Mabel and I are in the wood and I'm 99% certain on one is about. I've also walked at snails pace watching the sun through the trees. I've literally whispered her name and she come straight to my side and done a pretty good heal. Once she is completely over her surgery I'm going to do less walks in the park and more countryside. That's the beauty of living on the very edge of a city I have best of both worth. Thanks for sharing your experiment like you I'm interested in the under/over threshold in training.
Very interesting! I work a lot with Charlie's thresholds - in his case excitement. I have ended up in the driving rain attempting to take my dog's pulse (with a stereoscope) in the middle of Wimbledon Common.....I got some funny looks, that's for sure....
We are definately key In the calmness equation,sounds like, you had a very mindful walk and it had the desired effect...I could almost see those birds circling the church x
Calm, confident and fun as the behaviourist advised me (that's now my mantra ) obviously really works for Casper. I know I keep going on about the advice I got but from what you describe working with Casper it keeps reminding me. I asked her how my dogs would know that the 'Dealing with Danger' cue meant I would deal with the monster and not a cue for them to stop barking. She explained all training is about what you do not what you say. Keeping words to a minimum and using body language works much better when training a dog especially reactive/excited dogs. If Benson had been with you and you did the same exercise what would have happened ? If you can use the same method with both together and so curb Bensons bouncing about wanting to get on with stuff until your ready. That way you could have part of your walks calm for Casper to stay below threshold and then active for Benson. That might then make it easier for Casper to stay below threshold when walks are active. I was very surprised by the advice the behaviourist gave me about training two dogs. For the first time I wasn't told they should be trained separately and you can't train two dogs together. She just said obviously you will be working most of the time with them together but if you can spend 10 minutes now and then one on one just to build their bond with you. I was very surprised by that and also by her response to them being litter mates which I didn't think would go down well. She just said there's nothing wrong with that at all. I realised I'd found a behaviourist that works in the real world.
Benson is now much easier, he lets me know quickly when he is ready to train, and becomes focussed on me in a few minutes after a good sniff around, that doesn't work for Casper, especially if he is in a particulary vigilant mood. If the dogs are together we tend to just wander around local quiet footpaths where nothing but "checking in" is generally expected.Keeping them both close is easier than trying to do different things with them. I can't really train them together, Casper becomes too easily distracted. The pair have fun together though and love a romp together in the fields
I think it depends what you're trying to do and where you are with regards to the training two dogs together question. In order to work two dogs together in retrieving terms they both need to be steady and pretty uninfluenced by each other. For example Obi is far too possessive to retrieve well and to hand if Riley is sat right by me. I do work on stop whistles together and general responsiveness. Sounds like a really great session though working out how to get the best out of Casper and help him manage his levels
