As a dog trainer, I've jammed my training toolbox FULL of lots of tools. To be honest, it's a messed up jumble in that toolbox, but my most used tools stay at the top of the heap. There are some extra bits of junk in there though. Like Despair, Excuses, and some extra vials of Ego. So it's really good to sort thru your toolbox every once in a while. What is useless? What's just garbage getting in the way? Why are there so many cheese stick wrappers in here? Those kind of hard questions need to be asked as you sort. Maybe Marie Kondo that toolbox! I thought about her "does this item bring you joy" concept a lot in the last 24 hours. The problem is I see a lot of people who hold Despair, Excuses, and Ego in their hands and it DOES bring them joy. So they put it back in the toolbox. Maybe they leave it right on top, covering up all those really useful tools.
I used some other tools last night. Be Prepared was the one I grabbed right away. I made sure I had treats, treat bag, leashes, water, bowls, my discs, a towel for wiping my hands/the disc, a mask, a spare mask. I often use my Fly by the Seat of your Pants tool which is frankly, an inferior tool. You should only use that in emergencies. Like when life stomps on your Be Prepared tool. Just put on your Fly by the Seat of your Pants & hope for the best. In this case I took my Be Prepared tool out extra early and thought about how I'd incorporate that into my training plans. I have 6 dogs, and I like to work with all of them. Sometimes that means I get out the Spread Too Thin tool and all get some, but not all that much. To avoid having to use that, I opted to work with only the two youngest dogs.
Wire is 2.5 years old, and lives to work. Any work, all the work. She was an obvious choice of dog to bring. Plus she rocks. That's for me. I have been working on training myself to do longer distance throws and she is a fast, accurate dog. So a bit of Ego on my part helped me match the dog to my personal goals. Pixar is 15 months old & had been in few novel places in those 15 months. Covid obviously altered a lot of our opportunities in 2020. But he also hasn't been a lot of places because I have my own training facilities. That's a Good/Bad Thing tool. While it is a luxury to have a facility, it also means I have to get my dogs to other places for novel experiences. Luckily Pixar is a stable, happy dog. He's not environmentally sensitive and if anything is overly friendly with people and dogs. But opportunities are meant to be seized, Be Prepared to grab them!
The Be Prepared tool also meant I thought about who I wanted to work first. I knew if I started with Wire, my youngster Pixar would be rather peeved. I don't know what a peeved Pixar would be like alone in a soft crate. So I worked him first. Then I recognized that I had an opportunity to walk him out & then go right back in. I had pulled out this great tool called Be Flexible. Be Flexible is one of the best tools, remember to grab it often! It can be used in conjunction with all your other tools. Useful for adjusting attitudes and when dealing with problem people. It also can grease wheels with organizers! Because I had used the Be Prepared tool, I could easily switch plans. I had my treat bag on, discs already in the building, a disc carried out with me to get Pixar. I wanted to set expectations coming out of his crate and then be 100% focused on him and his emotions. I wanted to react quickly if he was too high, stressed, or just perfect! I was ready to use Connection to quickly bring us together.
Now Connection is an amazing tool, and like a socket wrench, there are parts that attach to it, that make it more useful in many of situations. I used a whole bunch of my Quick Connect tools to tighten the Connection. Auto Check Ins, Auto Check Outs, Loose Leash Walking, Sit, Patience, and Humor. As we got into the building my people loving boy had already been rewarded handsomely. I tightened that Connection with my Be Generous tool. So when he saw people and I suggested mobbing them wasn't the right choice, he took that pretty well. He was sniffing & looking around happily. Then I saw him get a little nervous. It wasn't much of a signal, but I didn't want to ignore it. I quickly cued a Sit. That's one of his default behaviors, he sat, and I rewarded. He pointedly did a Auto Check In. Reward. He pointedly did an Auto Check Out. Reward. He kept doing Auto Check Outs, I kept rewarding each one. I noted that he did more Auto Check Outs on the building staff that were doing weird things. They clearly were not Dog People. We did some tricks and he was visibly relaxing and it paid off, because I can Be Generous. Then he saw his most favorite Person. I knew it before she got close. He did an Auto Check Out & wiggled with glee. Reward. Ah, Emily must have walked in. Emily = FUN to him. Reward. She had his buddy Sweep with her. Sweep = FUN. Reward. Butt Wiggles galore and we moved towards his buddies. Reward. In the few minutes after we had entered the building, he probably gotten about 30-40 rewards. All for good behaviors. All that rewarding reinforced how strong those Quick Connect tools are. I did almost no cueing except an initial sit command and to tell him he couldn't mob people. I marked every good behavior he offered. I used Patience to quietly observe his emotional state & see what things caught his attention. I used Humor to enjoy the process & see what made him happiest. I could have ignored him, he was behaving nicely enough. I could have used Excuses and skipped all of this. He is young & will do silly things. But, in just a few minutes, I told him what was rewarding, I maintained Connection and learned so much. Then it was our turn to go!
As we walked ringside, we were asked if the building staff unloading equipment at the far corner of the building would be a problem. I confidently said, no. Not only because I can Be Flexible, but because I already used my Be Prepared tool. Pixar & I walked to the entrance, he was rewarded many times for his Loose Leash Walking. We took off his collar, hung it up, rewarded. I offered the disc to tug on, tugged, asked for an out & I said the magic word "Ready". He threw himself into his Around behavior & he was off after our practice throw. Then he came back, got lots of praise, some rewarding tugging with the disc. I gave the drop command, then the Sit command. The Timer gave us the nod & it was on. I had no doubt he would perform at that point. I knew he was clocked in, on the job, and ready to party with me. You could say that was my Ego talking. But it wasn't. I had every possible signal from him that he was focused. I had every confidence that our Connection was tight. 90 seconds later, we ended our turn with some fun tugging on the disc, I asked for the out, praised the hell out of him as I put his collar back on. We walked back out & I immediately started using our Loose Leash Walking tool. Rewards! We did stop to greet a few people, because that is rewarding for him & the job was done. Plus his wiggles of happiness for people crack me up.
Obviously my toolbox is pretty full. But unlike earlier last summer, when I was using 1 tool, Be Prepared, and using it poorly. This time I used lots more tools! Be Prepared is really handy, but I just kind of threw it at the problem. Kind of like I was trying to use a Hammer instead of a Compound Miter Saw. It was a tool, but not the right tool. I had plenty of tools in my toolbox. I didn't even need to dig for them. Instead after wildly swinging Be Prepared around rather uselessly. I grabbed Despair to beat myself up, used Excuses to blame others, and let my Ego cover up the problems. Eventually, I used those same 3 tools to break down the problem. I pushed aside my Ego so I could see where I had failed. Despair, pushed me to delve into the problem instead of wallowing in it. Excuses, actually told me exactly what I hadn't planned for. Damn it. Using the wrong tools had only made the work really frustrating.
So I rearranged the toolbox. Despair, Excuses & Ego...firmly at the bottom. They have a use, but only in helping you carefully examine the problem and look for solutions. I put some important tools back on top. Experience & Knowledge are now right on top. Forgiveness is too. Even with all my tools, I will occasionally grab the wrong one. It's okay to let it go and move on. Use Patience with yourself and your dog. Dig deep for some Humor when things go wrong. Next week, I'm going to use all these tools again.
Now, where's that roll of Duct Tape...
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