how to balance rewards and corrections

I seem to have reached a point in training where I am not using the proper balance of rewards (treats + praise) and corrections (choke or sometimes prong collar; also sometimes 'Ackkk!' is sufficient).

Bear in mind I have only been working with Dash for a few months (he was a rescue, had some basic stuff in foster care). However, he learns quickly, and I'm convinced that any problem we're having is my doing. He is usually pretty good with the training. He does off-lead long sits and downs with no problem, even with major distractions. He will heel on lead with no distractions, and will do pretty well if I get him to focus on me with the hope of getting food rewards. I have not worked extensively with corrections while there are distractions yet.

We participated in a fun pre-novice match over the weekend, and other than for the long sits and downs, he was in his own little world. I could not get a good connection where he was focussing on me. It was good practice, but I had hoped for better. It certainly pointed out our weaknesses!

I felt that if I had not fed him breakfast he might have been more foccussed on me, and if I had some better treats. But I also think I probably need to have a better balance of rewards and corrections.

I apologize for the length of this. Thanks for any advice!

By the way, he DID pass the CGC!

[Orville Story]

Maybe you are expecting to much to fast. However, I will give you some general rules that I go by on corrections and praise. I work on attention exercises without commands. Because when I give a command the dog must preform the exercise, or he will recieve a correction. Now if he does the exercise he gets a reward. Rottie loves praise, and handlers don't give enough praise. Break the exercise down into it's smallest parts so that it is easy for the dog to do it right, then PRAISE. Go and play as many attention games as posible, and work on attention without giving commands. It takes time to build that attention we seek in the obedience ring.

I am one of the first to say there is a place for corrections. But you must be fair with your dog. You must give him time and many hours of training to build that attention span. I would never expect a dog to give me constant attention for 5 minutes in less than a year of working on attention under distractions.

Congratulations on the CGC

[Tamalam]

k&s
Congrats on the CGC!
I loved your post, and I too am eagerly awaiting Orville's attention exercises! That is one area I struggle inmyself. I was glad to hear I'm not alone. Silly humans that we are; these rotties are so smart it's easy to forget we need to give them TIME to learn!!

I think a couple of things contributed to Dash's lack of focus in the ring. Primary is that he's only been working with me for 2 months(!). ALso, I have not been doing the attention exercises, and I also eagerly await hearing more about them so I can start.

Other things were: (a) he ate breakfast before the trial so had a full belly, (2) he had an unusually full day the previous day, with a long hike, playing with 4 other dogs at a friend's house, general running around, alot of activity more than usual, and getting back late.

However, I think the main thing is that we just need to work on this more. I need to focus on training to get more focus from him with distractions.

[Orville Story]

If you do a search on "Attention games" you will find several threads that cover good training games.

>>>I would never expect a dog to give me constant attention for 5 minutes in less than a year of working on attention under distractions.<<<

Holy smokes! I guess I am expecting too much too fast! This surely makes me feel better.

Can you give me a few examples of attention exercises? I would like to try them. I will focus on these for a while in our training.

These rotties are great fun to train; mine is so quick to learn and interested when I'm doing it the right way. I must say he also seems to NEED to learn new things all the time!

[LisaS]

dogs are also very tuned into handler behavior, body language and breathing - if you were nervous in the ring and did things just a little different - an "official-sounding" monotone in your voice, walking ramrod straight when you usually turn your shoulders and look at him, not speaking while you heel when you usually do, etc. all these can throw him off - and he might even try to calm you down by looking away, sniffing, etc.