Mind Over Matter:Part One Observations on the Mental Aspects
of Obedience Training
 

            I don't remember the first time I saw a dog perform the Utility exercises; I wish I did.  I think I was probably in awe of the dog and his handler.  I'm sure I thought scent articles and hand signals and directed jumping were way too complicated for me and my dog, and that "Utility Dogs" were one in a million, a rare breed.

            My first glimpse of a Utility dog must have been at an obedience trial back in 1977 while I was exhibiting in Novice A.  Back then, everyone I knew trained novice, then got a CD, trained open, then got a CDX and only started utility work after the X was finished.  As a novice trainer, I do remember feeling a bit overwhelmed by the complexity of the exercises.  For me and my dog, mastering the physical aspects of each exercise was a major accomplishment.  Who had time to worry about the dog's mind?  My hands were full just worrying about his body!

            I have some memories of training my first dog in utility.  I remember training his body to perform in a certain fashion--to pivot for articles and gloves, to execute hand signals and to do a "forced retrieve" dowel go-out.  I also recall carrying my article tie-down board around, but, for the life of me, I can't remember "reading" my dog.  I can't remember what he was thinking, what his body language was telling me, how he responded emotionally to my praise or corrections.  In retrospect, even though he earned his UD at 2-1/2 years of age, his training seems so superficial--at least by my standards today.

            Fifteen years later I find the physical aspects of obedience training to be the easy part; it's the psychological side that I find truly challenging.   And, for most dogs, training and developing their minds is more important than teaching their bodies.  After personally training and showing a number of dogs, plus instructing thousands of dogs, I believe I can teach any physically and mentally sound dog to do scent articles, the broad jump, directed jumping, the moving stand and so on.  In my "training bag" I think I have assembled enough tricks and techniques to teach any SOUND dog everything I need for AKC obedience competition.   At least, I've never had to turn a student away because I couldn't find a way to get "through" to his or her particular dog.  And, more importantly, I have the experience to "invent" new methods and approaches so my training continues to improve and evolve. 

            That said, I should be sitting on top of the world, turning out one perfect obedience dog after another.  Right?  I wish.  If only it were that easy--every dog in every class would be tied with a 200 score!

            *************

I'll admit it; I'm a people watcher.  I like to go to matches and shows and just watch.  I especially like to observe people and their dogs.  Obedience teams are my favorite, although conformation duos come in a close second.  I can usually tell a lot about a person, and his dog, by watching a few minutes of training.

            There are teams that are absolutely not "together."  They may be connected by a leash, but their minds are in two different worlds.  The handler talks, but the dog doesn't truly "listen."  The handler watches the dog and the dog watches the handler, but neither truly "sees" the other.  The dog might perform the basic components of an exercise--and even pay attention to its handler--but its mind is elsewhere.  This is particularly evident when the handler praises and/or releases the dog; the dog has other interests. 

            You've probably seen many obedience teams that fit this description.  I like to describe it as "the handler who does things 'to' the dog, rather than 'with' the dog" or "the handler who talks 'at' the dog, rather than 'communicates with' the dog."  The handler and dog are "connected" but they are not "of one mind."

            It takes time to really come together with a dog.  Oh, you might bond with a puppy or new dog after just a few days, but to be able to look into a dog's eyes and really "see" who he is--that takes time.  For the handler it also takes a willingness to learn, a desire to observe and enough self-confidence in oneself to let the dog develop into his own "person" rather than try to fit him into a preconceived mold. 

            *************

            Picture the "perfect" obedience team.  Someone who presents an ideal which you'd like to achieve.  It might be a nationally known trainer/exhibitor or some undiscovered star in your own training club.   Imagine that team in the ring.  Now picture them outside the ring, first relaxing, then warming up and finally playing together.

            When I do this little visualization, I see beyond the basic obedience exercises.  Certainly, they are performed flawlessly and with flair.  What I also see is a handler and dog who have reached an understanding, who've had a meeting of the minds.  I see respect and total devotion to one another.  I don't try to fool myself into thinking the dog is "perfect" or the handler is "perfect."  I know that they each have their shortcomings, but what has made them the fabulous team that they are is the "total understanding" they have so beautifully achieved. 

*************

            "What" the dog does is actually less important than "why" he does it.  Too many trainers deal exclusively with the "what" and totally overlook the "why."

            Two days before their first attempt at Open, Jane and her dog are doing a formal run-through.  The dog is qualifying until the high jump, when it doesn't jump on the return.  Jane handles the mistake fairly calmly, and gets the dog to execute the exercise.  During the broad jump, the dog trots up to the jump and just stands there.  Jane panics and tries a myriad of techniques to make the dog jump.  She uses food to bribe him over, and that works until she takes the food away.  She puts the leash on and runs by the jump.  That, too, works temporarily.  Jane gets frustrated and her dog gets more and more tense.  Jane stops the run-through after five run-by's with the dog on leash.

            If we look beyond the superficial (Jane's dog lost its broad jump), we might make the following observations:   Jane was relaxed and cheery during the warm-up and heeling portion of the run-through.  Her commands were given in a bright tone.  Her face was relaxed and her breathing was normal.  Nervous about the drop-on-recall (and who isn't in Open A?), Jane's tone of voice changed slightly and her mouth tightened as she called, dropped and called her dog.  During the retrieve on the flat, Jane's dog walked back.  Jane thought to herself "Oh no, substantial deduction" and simultaneously tensed up.  She stared directly at the dog with a slight frown on her face.  She took the dumbbell and, like a drill sergeant, ordered her dog to finish.

            Concerned that her dog might go around the high jump, Jane gave a very firm jump command to send the dog.  As the dog went over, Jane relaxed until she realized her poor throw might tempt the dog to come back around the jump.  As her dog picked up the dumbbell, Jane made direct eye contact with the dog.  Eyes "locked" on its owner, the dog walked in submissively.  Jane was convinced the dog "knew" it made a mistake, so she grabbed the dumbbell from the dog and redid the exercise, yelling at the dog to "jump" as soon as it picked up the dumbbell.                

            By the time she set dog up for the broad jump, Jane's body language had changed dramatically.  Her face was tight, jaw set, brow furrowed, shoulders forward and fists clenched.  Her eyes were hard and focused directly on the dog.  The command to jump was short and tense.  The dog, who normally galloped the broad jump, trotted up to the first board and froze.   

            Some trainers might say Jane's body language changed in reaction to the dog's mistakes in the run-through.  I might counter that the dog's mistakes were precipitated by the changes in Jane's body language.  I might also offer that Jane created a self-fulfilling prophecy.  She worried about the drop on recall and sure enough, the dog walked in.  She worried that the dog would come around the high jump, and it did.  Jane was so worked up by the time she got to the broad jump, she subconsciously expected a problem and it materialized.

            *************

            The latest trend in dog training has been called "reading" the dog.  Trainers are told to "read" their dogs and given some black and white guidelines to follow.  Trainers are told to  "help" the dog that is confused or afraid and "correct" the dog that is distracted or deliberately disobeying.  On the surface, these guidelines might appear to be the answer to a dog trainer's prayers.  In practice, however, black and white becomes gray.

            It's not enough to observe a dog and describe him as "confused."  Why is he confused?  Which part of the lesson led to his uncertainness?  A trainer looks at a dog and calls him "afraid."  Why is he afraid?  Specifically, what upsets or frightens him?  Until the trainer can answer the "why's" he'll never be able to move past this training stage.  A trainer should not just call his dog "distracted" and automatically correct him.  The trainer needs to understand why he's distracted before responding.  The same can be said for so-called "deliberate" disobedience.  I can think of many times where I might "help" a distracted or disobedient dog and I can recall "correcting" confused and afraid dogs for not trying harder.  

"Reading" a dog is not the same as "understanding" a dog.  I can "read" any dog and tell you some superficial things about that dog at any given time.  I can tell you if he's tense or relaxed, happy or depressed, serious or silly, friendly or aggressive.  But unless I really take the time to get to "know" a dog, I can't tell you "why" he's tense, relaxed, happy, serious or aggressive. 

**************

            Dog's don't speak English; they speak dog.  Granted, our dogs learn to respond according to certain words, and we learn to expect certain responses to our words, but is this true "communication?"  I think not.

            Dogs communicate with body language.  According to experts, a dog is capable of hundreds of different combinations of eye, ear, lip, tail and other body language combinations.  Each combination carries a slightly different meaning.  Dogs express their thoughts and feelings through their body language, which includes vocalizations such as whining, barking, howling, etc.  It stands to reason, then, that dogs read our thoughts and feelings through our body language.

            If I'm lucky, I might be able to identify a couple dozen different combinations of body language communication that my own dogs display.  As astute as I try to be, there are still dozens and dozens that I don't see.  I'm aware of a couple dozen different combinations of body language and communication that I display.  Again, try as I might, there are more, subtle combinations that I'm not aware of. 

            If trainers acknowledge the sensitivity of a dog's nose, then why not the sensitivity of their minds and emotions?  I'm told by experts that my dog can smell things that I can't.  Police dogs track criminals by "fear" scent.  Dogs can specifically identify other individual dogs by smelling old, dried urine.  Intellectually, I understand this, but I can't relate to it.  As a result, I'm careful to acknowledge my dogs' olfactory superiority when I train scent articles and problems crop up.  I don't know what my dog smells, so I try to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

            If my dogs are capable of exhibiting hundreds of different combinations of body language, which I'll call "messages" then doesn't it stand to reason that my dogs can receive hundreds of "messages" that I transmit?  I'm willing to acknowledge that my dogs are sending lots of different messages that I miss.  I'm also willing to admit that my dogs are receiving lots of different messages that I don't even realize I'm sending.

**************

            Does your Utility dog take the correct jump in response to your hand signal or are you giving him other cues that you're not aware of?  As you give your signal, what are the rest of your body language messages?  Where are your eyes focused, is your head up, down, turned or straight ahead?  Is your face relaxed or tense?  Is your mouth open or closed?  Are your arms relaxed or tense?  Fingers curled or relaxed?  Knees bent or locked?  Respiration?  Vocalization?  What is your state of mind?  Are you sending off positive or negative "vibes?"  What are you thinking as you give the signal?  (I've discovered that my Belgian Sheepdog, Tristan, watches my eyes.  I can direct him to the correct jump by simply looking at it!)

            If I'm teaching my dog a new exercise, or another step in a complicated exercise, I must be aware of all my body language messages, not just the hand signal or verbal command.  Does my dog automatically "know" that the raising of my right hand means to drop?  Or does he think he's supposed to drop when I furrow my brow?  When I first begin teaching the drop, my dog is receiving dozens of messages from me--in addition to the hand signal.  When I stop to think about it, it's amazing that my dog is able to figure out what it is I'm trying to teach him!  After all, he doesn't speak English...he speaks a very complicated language called "dog."

*************

            There are lots of expected learning stages that dogs go through when learning obedience exercises and there are very few problems that are exclusively the dog's.  When I watch a dog and handler having a rough time with an exercise, I try to look beyond the superficial and see what's really going on.  What body language signals is the handler sending to the dog?  What messages is the dog transmitting?  If the handler is saying "Good dog" and giving the dog treats while simultaneously displaying very negative, hostile and tense body language, how does the dog interpret these messages?  Obviously, the handler wants the dog to receive positive messages (food and praise) but the handler is giving off many more negative messages.  Does the dog count the number of positive vs. negative signals and arrive at a grand total to determine what the handler is trying to communicate?  How does the dog know which of our signals to respond to and which to ignore?

*************

            I try to be very aware of my dogs' messages.  I try to understand what they're thinking.  I like to try to put words in their mouths.  I can tell you, by looking at my German Shepherd, Ashley, when she's thinking about being "bitchy" in training.  When she gets in one of her moods, I must deal with her on a mental level (prove to her that I'm in control emotionally and dominant over her in our pack relationship) not a physical level (when she gets "bitchy" physical corrections just feed that fire, and since they don't work, they create an emotional response in me, which just reinforces--in her mind--her mental prowess over me). 

            When Ashley gets "bitchy" she's trying to tell me something.  If I listen to her, and deal with her frame of mind, we continue to have a productive training session.  If I simply react to the physical manifestations of her "bitchiness" our training sessions deteriorate to a battle of the wills and it becomes a game to see who's the "toughest."

            As tough as she is, Ashley has a sensitive side and she has a very big ego.  Training her requires a careful balance of making sure she knows that I'm the boss, while assuring her that I love her in spite of her training errors and correcting her deliberate mistakes without bruising her ego.  Friends tell me Ashley and I are soul mates.  It's true.

            ************

            I frequently babysit friends' dogs when they travel.  Tristan typically loves having visitors, but an eight-month old male Terv visitor recently caused him to appear "jealous," as the Terv was very demanding of my attention.  At least that's what it looked like on the surface.  Once I analyzed all the messages Tris was sending out, I realized his motives were not based on jealousy, they were based on proving a point to his Terv friend.

            I was fixing my lunch while the visiting Terv and four other dogs wandered around the kitchen.  Suddenly, Tris started pawing at my leg, which usually means he wants whatever I'm eating, which he rarely gets.  I stopped what I was doing, and bent over to ask him what he wanted.  He jumped up to give me a hug (very unusual behavior as Tris is usually not a solicitous dog).  I hugged him, while observing his body language.  Guess what I noticed?  Tris always turned to face the Terv, and made direct eye contact with the Terv.  When the Terv looked back at him, Tris grinned and wagged his tail.  In dog talk, Tris was saying "Neener, neener, she's my mom!" 

            When Tris first wanted a hug, my reaction was "How sweet, he's jealous!"  After I looked for deeper meaning, I realized Tris was being quite the little brat!

*************

            Sitting outside the breed ring a while back, waiting for Belgian Sheepdogs to start, Tristan and I were very nervous.  It was a major, and that was all we needed to finish.  It was two hours before the class, and 30 minutes before the show would officially begin.  As Tris and I sat ringside, I wondered how much of Tris' nervousness was in reaction to my own.  I was determined to calm down, so I gave myself a lot of positive "self-talk."  I tried to think about other things.  These techniques had a little carryover to Tristan, but what really made the difference was my breathing.  When I realized how fast and shallow my breathing was, and how tense I felt, I consciously forced myself to take deep, slow breaths.  I relaxed, and so did Tristan.  We went on that day to finish our championship and go Best of Breed.

*************

            One of my students recently showed at her first Gaines event at the Superdog level.  Prior to entering the ring on Saturday morning, she told me she felt like throwing up, crying and going to the bathroom--all at the same time.  I looked at her and said, "Your dog is trained.  Trust your dog.  Don't worry about her--just worry about yourself.  If you go into that ring and concentrate on doing your part, the dog will take care of herself."  They survived that first class with a very nice score and went on to place seventh in Superdog.

*************

            I firmly believe that dog training is 90% mental and 10% physical.  I also believe that the majority of training problems are due to misunderstandings.  Either the handler doesn't understand the dog, or the dog doesn't understand the handler. 

            The less you understand your dog, the more difficulty you will have training it.  When you run into a training problem, stop and ask "why?" before attempting to find a solution.  If you simply react to the superficial, e.g. my dog didn't drop, rather than assess the situation and try to discover "why" he didn't drop, you'll never really solve the problem.

*************

            Try the following exercise for two weeks and see if it doesn't help you learn to "understand" your dog a little better.  Keep a notebook and several times a day, write down the following observations during an interaction with your dog.  These interactions could occur in the house as the two of you just "hang out" together, as well as during formal training sessions.  Observe: 

            Your body language, thoughts, frame of mind.

            Your dog's body language:  specifically note his eyes, ears, lips, tail                     and overall body carriage. 

            Your dog's emotions (describe them in human terms).

            Put words in your dog's mouth--if he could talk, what would he say?

Try to do this observation exercise the next time you run into a training difficulty.  Work through the problem and stop and make notes, based on the preceding questions.  Then ask yourself, "If I could rewind that training session and replay it, what would I have done differently?"  And finally ask yourself, "How did my body language, thoughts and emotions effect my dog?"

This is an information only web site.  We do not collect, retrieve or store any information from this site.

This website and its contents are owned by Kathy Lang and Family Dog Training Center-- unless otherwise noted. NOTHING from this site may be used without the written permission of Kathy Lang, Family Dog Training Center or the identified owner. 2000-2008©

PLEASE READ THIS DISCLAIMER:  Kathy Lang and Family Dog Training Center have taken great measures to ensure the accuracy of the information contained on this site; however, neither can be held responsible for errors. Schedules and instructor assignments may be changed as necessary to accommodate student loads. Articles, photos and text contained on this web site are intended to be informational ONLY and do not constitute training guidance, examples or instructions.