HAVING A WORKING MINDSET - PART TWO
Working mindset is a mind that accepts that it is the subordinate partner in the enterprise and willingly gives attention, respect and trust to the dominant partner. As the partnership deepens and matures, experience adds eagerness, flexibility of mind, focus, concentration and the ability and joy of learning new things.
What does good working mindset look like? Let's go back to that dog that jumped out of the car for his first herding lesson. A dog with working mindset jumps out of the car and checks in with his person. He looks to her and to see and what's up. He stands quietly and waits for his person to set the agenda. When asked to move toward the gate he moves with respect; not pulling and dragging. When standing at the gate, his curiosity has him looking into the pasture; his mindset has him checking back in with her person. "What are we doing?". When he is asked to move toward and around these big, possibly scary animals, he trusts his person to not get him int trouble. He trusts her to be a good teacher and show him the right way to go about this new job.
A dog dropping into working mindset is possibly the most essential ingredient to a successful, winning trial run. How many times have you heard someone say, "My dog calms down after 10 minutes on stock." Guess what? A trial run only LASTS 10 minutes! You NEED the dog prepared to work BEFORE he walks through the gate. The walk from the car to the gate gets the dog dropping into the right mindset. The walk from the gate to the Post has the dog seeing the "lay of the land"; what the job is right now. The side you are walking him on tells him that is the side he will be sent for his outrun. Laying Down at the Post has him prepared and ready to go at your signal.
This isn't restricted to herding. You've watched plenty of obedience runs that started with the handler fighting and fussing with the dog while on deck at the gate, just before they are about to walk into the ring. THIS isn't a team focused and prepared to win. The walk from the crate to the ring should be dropping the dog into working mindset, NOT the walk from the gate to the set up line. By then it is too late.
How many times have you watched a team where "Sit" is not a simple communication but instead a debate, a negotiation...or a lost cause? This is not simply frustrating and annoying, it's potentially dangerous. A dog that is not in working mindset doesn't come when called and gets hit by a car; doesn't stop when told to on stock and either gets himself, the sheep or YOU hurt; doesn't follow orders and falls off a contact obstacle at speed.
I started doing agility with my young Shepherd, Rissa. (Originally written in 2012) She's had three lessons. She has no hesitation about the contact obstacles. She goes up the Dog Walk without fear or hesitation. She does the same with the Teeter. She has not yet learned to rate the fulcrum, but shows no fear because it moves. The biggest problem we've had is not understanding to look through the chute to find me. (I held the sheeting up in the beginning) When she finally figured out to look through and saw me, she came right through. How can a dog that has had three lessons be so fearless and bold?
My answer is that she TRUSTS me. She knows that if she does what I want, everything will work out. She is ATTENTIVE and RESPECTFUL. When I ask her to focus on the board, she does. She's NOT constantly looking for a way around me. She has signed on board to be my partner in whatever I ask her to do.
I mentioned to a friend recently that this issue of mindset is my biggest frustration as a teacher. I keep trying to find ways to get people to understand and implement the concept that everything they do with their dog counts. Working with dogs is a cumulative experience, or, to put it another way... dogs are bean counters. They are constantly keeping track of the times they had to listen, the tiems they didn't, the times they received proper reinforcement (positive or negative) and the times they didn't.
Everything leading up to work .... DETERMINES the work itself. Work doesn't start for a dog when he's standing at the Post. It started the morning when he was told to wait at the door but he barged through ... and the count continued from there.
So the question for today is, which dog describes your? Hopefully not the snapping, lunging, barkcing brat, but maybe the pulling/tugging/zoned out dog? Maybe the dog who "Yee-Haws!" in the beginning stages of work? Or the accepting partner?
Before you rush to focus on how to fix this major pothole in your road to success, you need to step back and examine every place where a faulty mindset affects the work and your partnership.
Working mindset is a mind that accepts that it is the subordinate partner in the enterprise and willingly gives attention, respect and trust to the dominant partner. As the partnership deepens and matures, experience adds eagerness, flexibility of mind, focus, concentration and the ability and joy of learning new things.
What does good working mindset look like? Let's go back to that dog that jumped out of the car for his first herding lesson. A dog with working mindset jumps out of the car and checks in with his person. He looks to her and to see and what's up. He stands quietly and waits for his person to set the agenda. When asked to move toward the gate he moves with respect; not pulling and dragging. When standing at the gate, his curiosity has him looking into the pasture; his mindset has him checking back in with her person. "What are we doing?". When he is asked to move toward and around these big, possibly scary animals, he trusts his person to not get him int trouble. He trusts her to be a good teacher and show him the right way to go about this new job.
A dog dropping into working mindset is possibly the most essential ingredient to a successful, winning trial run. How many times have you heard someone say, "My dog calms down after 10 minutes on stock." Guess what? A trial run only LASTS 10 minutes! You NEED the dog prepared to work BEFORE he walks through the gate. The walk from the car to the gate gets the dog dropping into the right mindset. The walk from the gate to the Post has the dog seeing the "lay of the land"; what the job is right now. The side you are walking him on tells him that is the side he will be sent for his outrun. Laying Down at the Post has him prepared and ready to go at your signal.
This isn't restricted to herding. You've watched plenty of obedience runs that started with the handler fighting and fussing with the dog while on deck at the gate, just before they are about to walk into the ring. THIS isn't a team focused and prepared to win. The walk from the crate to the ring should be dropping the dog into working mindset, NOT the walk from the gate to the set up line. By then it is too late.
How many times have you watched a team where "Sit" is not a simple communication but instead a debate, a negotiation...or a lost cause? This is not simply frustrating and annoying, it's potentially dangerous. A dog that is not in working mindset doesn't come when called and gets hit by a car; doesn't stop when told to on stock and either gets himself, the sheep or YOU hurt; doesn't follow orders and falls off a contact obstacle at speed.
I started doing agility with my young Shepherd, Rissa. (Originally written in 2012) She's had three lessons. She has no hesitation about the contact obstacles. She goes up the Dog Walk without fear or hesitation. She does the same with the Teeter. She has not yet learned to rate the fulcrum, but shows no fear because it moves. The biggest problem we've had is not understanding to look through the chute to find me. (I held the sheeting up in the beginning) When she finally figured out to look through and saw me, she came right through. How can a dog that has had three lessons be so fearless and bold?
My answer is that she TRUSTS me. She knows that if she does what I want, everything will work out. She is ATTENTIVE and RESPECTFUL. When I ask her to focus on the board, she does. She's NOT constantly looking for a way around me. She has signed on board to be my partner in whatever I ask her to do.
I mentioned to a friend recently that this issue of mindset is my biggest frustration as a teacher. I keep trying to find ways to get people to understand and implement the concept that everything they do with their dog counts. Working with dogs is a cumulative experience, or, to put it another way... dogs are bean counters. They are constantly keeping track of the times they had to listen, the tiems they didn't, the times they received proper reinforcement (positive or negative) and the times they didn't.
Everything leading up to work .... DETERMINES the work itself. Work doesn't start for a dog when he's standing at the Post. It started the morning when he was told to wait at the door but he barged through ... and the count continued from there.
So the question for today is, which dog describes your? Hopefully not the snapping, lunging, barkcing brat, but maybe the pulling/tugging/zoned out dog? Maybe the dog who "Yee-Haws!" in the beginning stages of work? Or the accepting partner?
Before you rush to focus on how to fix this major pothole in your road to success, you need to step back and examine every place where a faulty mindset affects the work and your partnership.