No matter how much you try to make your training look and feel like a trial to your dog (at least on occasion), chances are you won't be able to replicate every part of the trial environment, and since dogs are very situational, it is therefore likely that your dog will preform differently at a trial than in training.
This is one of the biggest frustration people experience when showing their dogs. A dog that exhibits a wonderful enthusiastic attitude in training may act like he has no idea who you are in a trial. This is a common problem. Don't let yourself believe that your dog doesn't "like" showing, if he likes training there is no reason he shouldn't like showing, what you are seeing is your dog responding to a new and strange situation.
Let us consider the differences between training and trialing. Some are obvious, some are less obvious:
* no toys, treats in the ring during a trial.
* no verbal praise or correction during the exercises during a trial.
* different duration of work expected before praise or reward is given is often different at trial than in training (for example 90 seconds of heeling in trial required, whereas maybe you only do 15 seconds of heeling in training at one time).
* often trial is held at a different time of day than when you usually train (perhaps your dog is accustom to sleeping during that time, say 10am).
* crating and short warm up session at a trial perhaps different from routine used when training.
* perhaps you are in a different place than where you usually train (different mats, smells, lighting, etc....)
* perhaps you are in the same place but now there are new people there (crowds, sounds, new dogs in your dogs club, etc...)
* Your nerves. You maybe stressed, sweating, worried, your tone of voice may be higher, you may smell different.
Some of the above things you can control for, and try to practice for, some of them you just can't. So what can you do . . .
First of all you must know your dog. Presented with new and different situation (some of which are listed above) how is your dog likely to respond? Is he likely to Gear-Up or to Gear-Down?
Gear-Up: Get more excited, more out of control, scatter brained, show more energy and enthusiasm.
Gear-Down: Get worried, sluggish, start to lag, to show avoidance behavior, seem very low energy.
The vast majority of dogs Gear-Down at trials. I often hear people complain about what a wonderful job their dog does heeling at home and how at trial he always lags when heeling or heels with his head down. However some dogs do Gear-Up, and get more excited, perhaps forging on a heel pattern when they never forge in training. Remember that you can't tell if your dog will Gear-Up or Gear-Down from a trial just based on their breed, drive, energy-level, or age. Each dog is different and whether a dog Gears-Up and Gears-Down for a trial is a consequence of how your dog responds to new environments and new situations.
If you are not sure which way your dog is likely to go (Gear-Up or Gear-Down) go to some show-n-gos or enter some trials, you should be able to tell right away. Sometimes just walking your dog around that environment will tell you what you need to know.
All dogs Gear-Up or Gear-Down to various degrees. Some Gear-Up or Down so little you may not notice, others Gear-Up or more likely Down so much that you swear it is a different dog. Rosco is this way, he Gears-Down so much a trial that I don't even recognize him or his working style, this was a problem that plagued us for a long time.
So once you know what you are likely to get from your dog at a trial (Gear-Up or Gear-Down) what can you do about it?
* Increase Your Dogs Confidence about the Exercises:
This is accomplished by Proofing. Remember to spend at least a month proofing all the exercises once your dog knows them and is comfortable doing them well. This will enable your dog to generalize the exercises in different contexts and will greatly increase his comfort level and confidence. There are several good proofing books out there, I really like "The Art of Proofing: Preparing your dog for Obedience Trials" by Adele Yunck. Also see my "Proofing" post May 8, 2009.
* Increasing your dogs comfort level with different trial environments and as many aspects of trialing as possible.
This is accomplished by going to matches and show-n-gos, competing in other venues (like rally), or bringing your dog along when you are competing with another dog. Anything that puts your dog in the trial environment and takes the novelty away from him being in his crate, getting taken out of the crate for a little work or interaction with you in the middle of the day, getting put back into his crate, being surrounded by the sounds and smells of a crowd of people and other dogs.
* How to TRAIN knowing that your dog will Gear-Down at trial.
Now here is the KEY. Training KNOWING your dog will Gear-Down (or Up, see below) at a trial. If you know that your dog is going to be slower, sloppier, lower energy in trial than in training than you must require more than you need from your dog in training. Require even more energy, more precision, more speed in training than you will need to qualify at a trial. If your dog gives you an 8 in training and you get a 4 at a trial make sure you require a 12 in training so that you can get an 8 at a trial. This is especially important for dogs that Gear-Down a lot. Rosco is like this. He works at a trial like someone has "let-all-the-air-out" of him. So I make sure I train with this in mind. In training I ALWAYS require that Rosco jump into the air on his finishes (which requires lots of energy and speed). Despite this Rosco has only once finished by jumping in a trial instead he quickly trots into position, which is fine and we don't lose any points on this. However if I allowed him to quickly trot into finish position in training I am sure he would be slowly walking into finish position in a trial. And if I allowed him to slowly walk into finish position in training I am sure in trial he would stop mid-way through the finish to look around and than sit himself somewhere near finish position. All this is to say make sure you train for MORE energy speed and precision with a dog that you know will GEAR-DOWN in the ring. These dogs should never walk or trot in training everything should be a run. These dogs should never drop their head while heeling or retrieving. These dogs should never do anything slow! Everything should be done with lots of tail wagging, energy and enthusiasm. You may have to do lots of motivational training and maybe even lots of cheer-leading initially to get your dog into this state of mind but this is critically important if you want a nice performance in a trial from a dog that Gears-Down.
There are also things I allow from a Gear-Down dog that I might not otherwise. I ALWAYS LET a Gear-down dog Forge, because this means he is giving more energy and speed and if he gears-down in the ring that Forge will get a bit laggy and result in a perfect heel. Let me be clear at this point I do NOT TEACH a Gear-Down dog to Forge! this is important, you want the dog to understand the exercise, so it is important that he be taught proper heel position, however if my Gear-Down dog is giving me more energy and excitement in training and he is forging, I allow it, I praise it. I don't worry about ever seeing the forge in the ring and I always Value Energy with Gear-Down dogs.
Another thing I like to do with Rosco is I train him when he is tried. I get him really wore out mentally and physically and than I do some training. I find this lowers his energy level and enthusiasm to the levels I usually see at a trial and therefore by teaching him how to work at this level and more importantly, how to work through this level, I find he does a better job working through his low energy level when he Gears-Down at a trial.
* Training knowing that your dog will Gear-Up at trial.
If you know that your dog is going to be more hyper, exhibit higher energy, and put more emphasis on everything he does at a trial. Than it is critically important you get him in a trial-like environment whenever possible so he can become accustom to that type of environment. You also want to get these dogs very accustom to the ring protocol and to the order of exercises in the ring, yes pattern-train if you must. This means lots of run-thrus and show-n-gos. You want the trial to feel familiar and totally comfortable for them such that they can do the exercise in their sleep.
It can be very useful to train your dog while he is in a high energy state to teach him how to think and work despite his brain being scatter and body running a million miles per hour. Perhaps just as your arrive home from work and your dog is crazy and hungry, you can grab a ball or favorite toy and place it in his sight but out of the way, and than attempt to do some obedience exercises with him. This is a much better place and time to teach your dog to work through this hyper state than at a trial.
You must balance your dog's Geared-Up state by staying very calm and quiet yourself. When I work with a Gear-Up dog I make sure I give all my commands very quietly so the dog learns to listen to me and I only give them once. I stay very consistent with my body posture and commands and I also teach the dog a word that begins an exercise like "lets work" or "ready" (which you can use in the ring) and a word that ends an exercise like "okay". I use these consistently so the dog can clearly understand the difference between work-time and play-time. Remember with a Gear-Up dog in the trial setting their brain will be going a million miles per hour and they will need these familiar signals and cues to help ground them. I always tell my Gear-Up dog what we are doing next, I say to my dog "we will be HEELING next ready for HEELING" I do this in training and at the trial between exercises.
I also play a lot of control-at-a-distance games as described in my "Considering Distance in Obedience" post from June 19, 2009 and later "Games for Distance in Obedience" from June 24, 2009. This is important because it establishes your control over your dog at any distance. One last thing you can consider is to choreograph the ring routine completely for a Gear-Up dog such that you are able to make things crystal clear and very familiar for them. You can see more about this in my "Between Exercises: Reconnect, Praise, Relax, Motivate, and Control" post from May 29, 2009, see the last item "control".
Remember that all dogs Gear-Up or Gear-Down for trials to different degrees. The vast majority Gear-Down. So don't let the fact that your dog works differently at a trial, than in training, shock you or frustrate you. Plan ahead for it, and teach your dog to work through it.
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