Dog approaches, LOTS of cookies!!

I forgot to mention something Julie Daniels stressed at the novice agility clinic last weekend. There were a couple of dogs that obviously did not have very good recall training and on occasion broke away from their handlers to race around the arena and go up to other dogs. This is something I have had to work hard on with Roscoe. When I first got him he would lunge and attack any in-coming dog. At only nine pounds, that could put his life in danger, and did on a few occasions, many years ago. So, I always made a point of stuffing his face with cookies when ever a dog decided to come into our space. He soon learned that on-coming dogs meant yummy things and he would look to me for his cookies. I could stuff his face and that would give the owner enough time to gather up their dog. Sometimes I would even toss a handful of cookies at the on-coming dog, to stop it in it's tracks and distract it from sniffing Roscoe. This strategy has worked pretty well for us and it also has changed Roscoe's emotions when dogs approach. In dog behavior speak that would be called changing his CER (Conditioned Emotional Response). Making it a positive CER, rather than a negative CER to on-coming dogs.

At the seminar every time a dog went on a "run-about", Julie would yell out to everyone else to "FEED YOUR DOGS!!". She stopped to explain the benefit and that this is an essential part of agility dog training. Teaching your dog to handle it when another dog approaches. It happens at trials. Dogs are in high drive mode and often get the zoomies, or simply forget themselves and run up to other dogs. It's just something you must get your dog used to if you want to make trialing a pleasant experience. It is something I had to work extra hard at with Roscoe. It used to make him nuts, stress him out and his performance suffered. It took me years of trials to get him comfortable and OK about all that sort of thing. Now, he simply looks at me and waits for his handful of yummy cookies. He has learned that on-coming dogs bring good things!!

I use this technique when out walking in public. We spend so much time at the beach in the winter and we are usually not the only ones. Other dog walkers are out and it is common to have at least one encounter with another dog. Sometimes it is just in passing on the path into the beach. At which time I do the same thing. Feed, feed, feed the dogs for staying with me and paying attention to ME and ignoring the other dog(s). It happens so often my dogs often see another dog and immediately look back at me to see if my hand might be reaching for the treats, which it usually is!!!

(Photo shows a strange dog that during a photo shoot at the beach! Spur sometimes gets worried, but this time had a fine time play with this crazy looking dog. Roscoe was busy getting treats!)