Wag along with me
The Chaos method of training
The more I work with Condor, the sadder I become that I have discovered the joys of dog training so late in life. I wish I was in my 20s or 30s. It isn’t that 48 is ancient, but I figure I won’t really have too many dogs of my own left if they all live to a normal age (and if I live to a normal age).
Although, I probably agonize too much to ever be an effective dog trainer. Condor is like a blank canvas and I worry constantly that I will put a brush stroke on the canvas and step back and find out it is totally wrong and everything is ruined.
I also will never be a great trainer because I am not good at visualizing or writing down my goals. Jean Donaldson talked about this a lot at the seminar I attended and it is something my trainer friend, Laura, advises. You need to have a training plan, write down what you want, how you are going to get it and then keep track of how successful you and your dog are and decide whether you are upping your criteria too fast, just right, or not enough. This is a very simplified explanation, but simpe is the best I can do.
My problem is, I am not a detail oriented person. So, I started stressing about my seeming inability to formulate a training plan or to even walk onto the training field with any plan at all.
But, despite my flaws, I am having so much fun. I may never be good at planning or record keeping, but I have always been good at extemporaneous speaking, so I decided to quit agonizing over my lack of detail orientation and just try to focus on what I can do. When I first started doing public speaking as part of my job, I worked with a speech coach who told me that the more prepared I was for a speech, the worse it was. The best speech I ever did turned out to be one in which the keynote speaker became ill half an hour before an event and I was asked to speak on the subject.
I decided to take the approach I use for public speaking and use it for training Condor. Although if I had to give you, the reader, advice, I would say to follow Jean and Laura’s advice. I’m sure it is a much better way to train.
So, when I get Condor, I have floating in my brain the barest of ideas of what I want to do. I let them percolate around in my brain as I’m cutting hot dogs, finding Condor’s collar and leash and looking for his ball on a rope. I think about what I did last time with Condor and what I want to do with the current training session and then I just go for it. Sometimes I stick to the plans I have percolated, and sometimes something else happens and I go in a totally new direction. For example, I was using food and a clicker for heeling. I was doing fine in my yard, but anytime I moved to more distractions, I didn’t get very far. So, I started carrying Condor’s favorite toy under my arm and just dropping it and I’m getting much better attention. Of course, I have no idea if what I’m doing will ever produce a dog that heels, but it seems to be getting somewhere. And at least Condor is having fun and I’m not stressed.
Here is a photo showing how totally unstressed Condor is about life.
Although, I probably agonize too much to ever be an effective dog trainer. Condor is like a blank canvas and I worry constantly that I will put a brush stroke on the canvas and step back and find out it is totally wrong and everything is ruined.
I also will never be a great trainer because I am not good at visualizing or writing down my goals. Jean Donaldson talked about this a lot at the seminar I attended and it is something my trainer friend, Laura, advises. You need to have a training plan, write down what you want, how you are going to get it and then keep track of how successful you and your dog are and decide whether you are upping your criteria too fast, just right, or not enough. This is a very simplified explanation, but simpe is the best I can do.
My problem is, I am not a detail oriented person. So, I started stressing about my seeming inability to formulate a training plan or to even walk onto the training field with any plan at all.
But, despite my flaws, I am having so much fun. I may never be good at planning or record keeping, but I have always been good at extemporaneous speaking, so I decided to quit agonizing over my lack of detail orientation and just try to focus on what I can do. When I first started doing public speaking as part of my job, I worked with a speech coach who told me that the more prepared I was for a speech, the worse it was. The best speech I ever did turned out to be one in which the keynote speaker became ill half an hour before an event and I was asked to speak on the subject.
I decided to take the approach I use for public speaking and use it for training Condor. Although if I had to give you, the reader, advice, I would say to follow Jean and Laura’s advice. I’m sure it is a much better way to train.
So, when I get Condor, I have floating in my brain the barest of ideas of what I want to do. I let them percolate around in my brain as I’m cutting hot dogs, finding Condor’s collar and leash and looking for his ball on a rope. I think about what I did last time with Condor and what I want to do with the current training session and then I just go for it. Sometimes I stick to the plans I have percolated, and sometimes something else happens and I go in a totally new direction. For example, I was using food and a clicker for heeling. I was doing fine in my yard, but anytime I moved to more distractions, I didn’t get very far. So, I started carrying Condor’s favorite toy under my arm and just dropping it and I’m getting much better attention. Of course, I have no idea if what I’m doing will ever produce a dog that heels, but it seems to be getting somewhere. And at least Condor is having fun and I’m not stressed.
Here is a photo showing how totally unstressed Condor is about life.
Comment
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Comment by Connie Swaim on July 6, 2009 at 2:34pm - OK, Laura, now you are blowing the image I have of you! :) I always think it looks like you go onto the field knowing exactly what you are doing; how you are getting there and the route your path will take. I go onto the field with a bare trickle of an idea of where I am going.
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Comment by Laura VanArendonk Baugh on July 6, 2009 at 2:16pm -
The Chaos method.... Okay, Connie, what you have to understand is that I *competed* in extemporaneous speaking. We were given a topic, we had 30 seconds to think, and then we delivered a speech. It was awesome. And why did I like that particular venue? It seemed like so much less work than doing speech preparation!
Fast-forward to my dog training life. I'm still lazy. I still don't like to lose time in preparation. And I am NOT detail-oriented in this area.
So what you're talking about, thinking about what you want to do while you're cutting up hot dogs, is part of what I'm talking about. You're still planning, just not all on paper. Now all you need is a way of tracking success -- memory CHEATS, trust me on this one -- and you'll be all set.
At the risk of shameless self-promotion :) I refer you to this written by the Queen of Lazy and Sloppy Training. It has some of my lazy cheats for easy plans and record-keeping.
I have a friend who is a fabulous trainer and record-keeper, both. Her background is in astrophysics -- she can make training data do strange and wonderful things. Me... I stay pretty prosaic. But every little bit helps!
Condor is super-cute.
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