Jackpot 101

When I was first exposed to the concept of jackpot training about 15 years ago, it was pretty basic: instead of giving your dog one cookie for a reward, give a whole bunch to make a bigger impression.

Then there was the question of delivery. The late Patty Ruzzo defined a jackpot as "10 to 15 pieces of food delivered over a period of time," so clearly the food was best given one piece at a time to enhance the experience. Woe to those people with snapping turtle dogs who took fingers with treats and spit out what they couldn't swallow.

Then someone came up with the theory that jackpots should be totally spontaneous and happen at any time during a training session. Although a jackpot could be a reward for effort or precision, it didn’t necessarily have to be linked to a specific behavior, leading the dog to believe that at any second he might be released to eat a whole handful of treats. This was intended to encourage attention and handler focus, as the dog never knew when the next bonanza might appear.

Along the line, I also encountered the school of thought that believed jackpot treats should be “extra special,” something different than the dog’s normal treats. Nice theory, although for the love of doG, none of my kids ever let a treat stay in their mouths long enough to taste it, so while I agree that oven-baked garlic Parmesan chicken breast IS tastier than a piece of hotdog, the finer nuances of this appreciation are probably lost on dogs who swallow everything whole anyway.

Like any training method, jackpotting is open to many different interpretations and like training with clickers, toys, pinch collars, etc., the method’s effectiveness relies on the trainer’s skill level and understanding of how dogs learn.

My second OTCh., Jamie, was not a dog who was inspired to paroxysms of delight by the whole obedience scene. He was a happy and reliable worker but unlike Connor, who was totally insane about doing obedience, Jamie needed a reason why: a reason to train, a reason to go in the ring, a reason to stop worrying about the stranger (judge) who was going to touch him on the moving stand. (Jamie did not approve of strangers. He approved even less of strangers who insisted on touching him.)

He was a total chow hound, however (having been raised with Shelties, what did you expect) and I used jackpotting with him for most of his competitive career. It worked nicely but hindsight being what it is, I made a couple of mistakes.

The first mistake was that I should have been more random with his jackpots during training sessions. A jackpot will have more impact at a critical point DURING an exercise - for example, as he was flying back to me with the dumbbell — than it will AFTER the front and finish. (What was I doing putting formal exercises together in training anyway? Bad handler! Bad!) He learned in spite of me. Good Red Dog.

Mistake number two was not implementing random jackpots during matches and group training sessions. Instead, I just kept feeding at the total end of the run-through like it was a formal trial and naturally, Jamie learned that the BIG REWARD came after he’d been in the ring for awhile, never in the beginning.

So at trials, our first few exercises in the class were lukewarm, the next two a little more animated and by the time the final exercises got there, he was sky high. Looking back at our obedience breakdowns through the years, he received wonderful scores on the final exercises in both Open and Utility, regardless of what they were, no doubt in anticipation of the reward he knew was coming. I had very effectively taught him the value of delayed gratification.

So, lessons learned.

For some reason, I have not done any jackpot training with Phoenix. I don’t know if I thought it was out of vogue or what (most likely, I just FORGOT!), but it was a tool I stuffed in the bottom of my metaphorical training bag and ignored until the Bridget Carlsen seminar. Now I can’t wait to introduce it into Phoenix’s training. DoG knows he, too, is a chow hound. And a tug hound. How totally awesomely wonderful it is to have a dog so easy to motivate! (God bless you, Catherine, AGAIN, for this wonderful creature.)

Due to copyright laws I can’t go into details about Bridget’s jackpot training method but she has a series of steps that build a foundation of understanding and motivation for the dog. She starts by building cue word for the dog’s food (Hungry! Supper! Let’s eat!) She also feels the jackpot is eventually best delivered off your body and away from the ring vs out of a pocket or treat bag on your body.

I asked her about this. She has a unique theory about keeping food on your body during training vs having it on a chair or in a bag (this is after the teaching phase is over). She said, basically, that it doesn’t matter whether the dog knows you have food on you or not because people who train continually with food on them, ACT DIFFERENTLY when the food is not there. So it’s not just the dog behaving differently in the absence of food, the handler is behaving differently too, since she may feel her cheese stick security blanket is gone. Definitely experienced that!

Anyway, Phoenix is working for all or part of his meals every day now to implement a jackpotting foundation. Working for meals is nothing new, I’m just using his food a little bit differently. Theoretically, you could jackpot to a play session with a toy, too, but Bridget built her food jackpot system for use with her Norwich terrier who did not have play drive.

Well, this has gotten out of hand, length-wise and I never intended this to be a training blog but sometimes words run away with me.

Hug your dogs and enjoy whatever you do with them today.

Monday musings

Monday is my “late” day at work. I go in late. I work late. Although I’m not thrilled about working until 8 or 9 p.m., it’s great to have a few extra hours on Monday mornings to play catch-up after the weekend.

I spent part of that time with Phoenix this morning trying some of the new things I learned at the Bridget Carlsen seminar over the weekend. We went outdoors as soon as the sun was up. Yeah, it was 30 degrees at 7 a.m. Yeah, I was training in gloves and earmuffs. Yeah, it has been suggested that I am not completely mentally stable.

The Farmer pointed out that it was cold and I had not been seen training outdoors in anything resembling cold since last November. He refrained from pointing out that if asked to go outdoors and do work, I would whine, “But it’s too COLD.” Dog training is a great deal different from work. Obviously.

We had a great session and I was delighted to see Phoenix light up when given some new approaches to familiar obedience exercises. Or maybe it was because it was 30 degrees out. Or because he wanted his breakfast. Or maybe because I was stepping up and doing my part to keep him engaged and not just going through the motions.

Trying new stuff is always fun and makes me think, “Well, duh, why didn’t I think of this?”

I’ll write a bit about jackpot training in an upcoming post but if you get a chance to attend one of Bridget’s seminars, do it. Nix and I had a working spot but I would have still learned a great deal if I only audited. It’s always fun, though, to get out on the floor and work your dog at a seminar and get one-on-one feedback from the person whose techniques you’re trying to implement.

Nix is picking up on several cue words already. Granted, they are ones he recognizes from day-to-day use but now I'm working to use them very selectively and put more intense value on them. One, for jackpotting, is "Supper!" For him, this applies to any meal, any time. I think I'm re-creating Pavolov's dog, since "Supper!" is a pretty powerful drool inducer.

The other one is "Stick!" Stick equals tug - leather, jute, french linen, etc. Where's your stick? Get your stick! Bite that stick! Kill that stick!

Supper and sticks are mighty powerful words.

Okay. Break over. Back to work.

Weekend wrap-up

Spent the weekend at the Bridget Carlsen seminar at 4RK9s in Cedar Rapids. Her energy and enthusiasm are contagious! Had a great time and learned lots of things I can use with Phoenix. It would be silly to totally throw the way I trained before out the window and start over every time I attend a seminar (they all make it look so easy, dang it!) but no matter whether the seminar is a five star affair or leaves you shaking your head, you can always find a few new ideas to incorporate into the way you train. 

Here are a few highlights (I don't have the time or ambition to critique the whole seminar. I just hope I can read and make sense of my notes as I start to implement the new ideas!)

Bridget's system of jackpot training went beyond the generic "Give your dog a whole bunch of cookies instead of just one." I've not not done any jackpot training with Phoenix (I did a great deal of it with Jamie, although not quite the same way she presented it) so that is one new thing I want to try. 

She also does a lot with teaching cue words to rev up the dog in anticipation of a reward (immediate or delayed) or to indicate what exercise is coming next. All I could think of was dear, sweet Kay Lowe telling her dogs "Now we're going to do glovies" or "Let's do heeling" years and years ago. Kay was ahead of her time.

Phoenix is exhausted and so am I. We've got a busy week coming up. Five days until our Open debut!

Today I am very thankful for the opportunity to learn. Now it's up to me to make some changes!

Who?!

Does anyone use their own name any more? The Farmer calls his brother and sisters by their nicknames: Otter, Duke and Butch. His friends are Toad, Rabbit, Pinkie and Doo-Dah. This drove me crazy when we first met because I never had any idea who in the world he was talking about.

The Farmer’s nickname is Ronnie. That’s because his middle name is Reagan. This makes a whole lot more sense than Rabbit or Doo-Dah. I’m sure there are stories behind those that I am better off not knowing. His mom even has a nickname, Blondie, which is what everyone calls her all the time. Imagine my surprise when we did our wedding invitations and I found out she actually has a first name and it isn’t Blondie.

It’s just as bad with my dog friends: there’s Martha (that’s me!), Meme, Sal, Witchman (me again) and Deerslayer, for whoever the latest person is to hit a deer, which sadly has been nearly all of us at one time or another. There are lots more nicknames, too. Plus we tend to tag everyone with the middle name Sue, so it’s a never-ending stream of RildaSue, TerrySue (don’t ask), TammySue, etc.

Our dogs can’t escape this phenomenon either, but nicknames for them are a little more personal and frequently more varied. Connor was the Skunk Dog. Early in his obedience career, a kid at a fast food drive-through looked into my vehicle, saw Connor curled up neatly in his crate, only the white stripe of his ruff showing, and asked, “Hey, you got a skunk in there?” It stuck. As time passed, the Farmer called Connor the Old Dog.

CONNOR
Skunk Dog
The Old Dog

Jamie is the Coyote (he howls), the Big Red Dog and James Alexander (obviously from Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander” series from whence he is named.) The latter is usually accompanied by many exclamation points, as in “James Alexander!!!! Do NOT poke RildaSue in the butt.” The Farmer calls Jamie the Big Dog.

JAMIE
The Coyote
Big Red Dog
Big Dog
James Alexander!!!

Phoenix is the Maligator. While not terribly original, it’s very fitting. He, too, has a middle name, Phoenix MacKenzie (also an Outlander-series reference), and yes, that, too, is punctuated heavily. “Phoenix MacKenzie!!! Give me back the bottle of honey!” In keeping with the tradition of nicknames that make no sense, the Farmer calls him the Little Dog.

At one point a very long time ago, he was a little dog but even now, at 24 inches at the withers and 52 very solid pounds, he is still the Little Dog. This is the nickname I probably use most for him and embellish it occasionally to Skinny Little Dog or Naughty Little Dog.

PHOENIX

Maligator
Little Dog
Skinny Little Dog
Naughty Little Dog
Phoenix MacKenzie!!!

The two Belgians share a number of nicknames as well: Fuzzy, Bright Eyes and Furball being the most often used.

How about your dogs? How many nicknames do they have?

(Thanks Sheryl and Meme for the photos.)

Sugar rush

Here are the famous Brach’s Chicks and Rabbits I mentioned in an earlier post.

My parents put them in my Easter basket every year when I was a little kid, so it’s not like they’re anything new but I’ve learned some people both near and far didn’t know what they are and have been missing yet another delicious opportunity to consume high fructose corn syrup and get cavities. (Today’s Exercise Finished post is sponsored by your local dentist.)

Chicks and Rabbits are made of that wonderful dry chewy marshmallow stuff like circus peanuts, only better. I bought two bags over the weekend. One for now and one for well, um, later. No worry about them drying out or getting stale. The drier they are, the better they are. Of course, that might be a matter of taste since you’re talking to the person who opens her Peeps and leaves them on the counter for a week to “cure” before eating them. Fresh Peeps are just wrong. I realize some people think any kind of Peeps are just wrong.

Ever notice how Chicks and Rabbits look like those Easter Island statues? Apparently there was fighting in the bag. The blue chick is missing a beak.

I may have to go buy a couple more bags. They can be hard to find. Stores that carry a full line of Brach’s candy don’t always have Chicks and Rabbits . As much as I love Cadbury cream eggs, Russell Stover’s chocolate-covered marshmallow eggs, solid chocolate bunnies, malted milk robin’s eggs and jelly beans (yes, black ones, too!), the spring season just is not complete without Chicks and Rabbits.

Once they’re gone, they’re gone. Brach’s doesn’t make a Halloween or Christmas version. I think I need to go back to Target.

Happy birthday, Exercise Finished!

Exercise Finished was one year old yesterday! I had no idea what I was doing when I started this blog a year ago but it’s been a lot of fun and I’ve met a lot of great people. And I still don’t know what I’m doing.

One year ago, I was getting psyched for Phoenix to debut in Novice obedience. Now he is 10 days from his AKC Open debut. He got his U-CDX last fall but that admittedly wasn’t our best teamwork and I have high hopes for brighter performances this spring. He’s grown up, my understanding of what he needs from me as a trainer has improved and our relationship has strengthened. The journey continues.

He has a solid understanding of the individual exercises. At least I think he does. (I’ll write about proofing some time. Proofing a mal is something like throwing a lit match on gasoline. You asked for it.) Group stays remain a weak spot although they have gotten tremendously better and we keep working them constantly. I suspect that may be the story of our lives. Phoenix simply does not appreciate being left behind. He wants to go where I go.

Probably my biggest training hurdle with Phoenix is making the exercises challenging enough to keep his mind engaged but not so difficult he can’t succeed, while at the same time building precision and maintaining attitude. It’s like juggling four balls in the air when normally I have to focus really hard just to catch one. Nix learns quickly but then it’s like, “Okay, I get it, now what are we going to do?” Not a dog you want to train by drilling. He is without a doubt both the easiest and most difficult dog I have trained.

Here is my serious obedience dog demonstrating his single minded serious focus in the motel room in Des Moines last weekend.

DMOTC videos

I decided to post two of our best NQ runs instead of our actual qualifying run from the weekend. Yeah, there's a big glitch on each one: Nix knocks the panel jump in Standard, then runs amok due to lack of handler communication half way through JWW. But he did it with a great deal of enthusiasm and there were a ton of things I was really happy about on both runs. As usual, the mistakes were handler-induced. The learning curve continues for both of us.

Thanks Meme and everyone who video'd for me!