Training Tips for Sensitive and/or Distracted Dogs - Episode 5. Chains and Transitions - What? ...

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Chains of Behaviours and Transitions

Have you ever heard of these dog training terms? If the answer is yes - great! You have a head start! If not - don't worry, I'll do my best to show you what these mean as well as when and how to use them successfully! I find these tools very closely related to Focus and Feedback (hence I wanted to include them in the previous blog but then I realised it's quite long so divided it into two separate ones ;) ) and when I work with different human-canine teams I find it really important for the owners to be conscious of using transitions and chains... especially if their dog is on a bit of more sensitive side. Many of you might also practice that without realising! But wait a second - let me explain everything from the beginning!

A Chain of Behaviours is a sequence of previously taught behaviours happening without (at least obvious ones) reinforcers in between. For example: Jump - Tunnel - Dog walk - Jump - Jump. Or: Sit - Heel - Down - Stay - Heel. Then we finish the sequence and usually do reward our dogs anyway, but there are no rewards in between each obstacle/ task/ exercise.

Both in sports and in everyday life we want to get to the point when our dogs are able perform behaviours without a reward after every single behaviour ideally with the same amount of enthusiasm, don't we? Achieving this can sometimes be a very tricky thing... and even more with as S/D dog! A dog that does not understand and is not used to doing chains of behaviours will lose interest, drop down in energy, lose motivation, start sniffing etc. if we ask for another behaviour/ task without immediate reward. If we do any shaping games or make a mistake (us or the dog) they do not deal well with failure. This is why it is so important to put time and effort to teach our dogs that it's all about the game!

I start explaining the concept of chains quite early in the dog's life making sure the behaviours are easy enough for the pup to commit to. The goal is teaching our dogs that the reward is not always given after each repetition AND at the same time, making sure they keep the attitude we would like to see. So besides working on dog's understanding of behaviours and commands, proofing the behaviours, teaching life skills etc. I try little sequences of behaviours to prepare my pup for an adult life... Let's say my 5 month old puppy knows Spin and Hand Target VERY WELL on cues. I will then ask for a sequence: Spin - Hand Target or 2 Spins in a row and then Reward. This way I am creating the love for the game of training (as opposed to the love for the food that comes after each behaviour 😉) and as the dog is winning a lot this will be apart of their motivation as well. Later on I can mix up different exercises, more exercises or add duration to them. Watch it - the sequence of behaviours should NOT be the same all the time.

Transitions are the moments when you and your dog are in between one exercise/ task/ session and the next one or one chain of behaviours and the next one. What does a transition DEFINITELY require from us? Focus and giving Feedback! To give you an example: you run a sequence of Agility obstacles with your dog - Transition: you reward your dog and prepare for the next go - you run it again (hopefully with the knowledge of how to run it better the second time 😉but that's off topic!). So, ideally a transition is an event of connecting with your dog, rewarding them eg. playing tug, personal playing or having the dog chase treats, combined with some kind of routine/ preparation for the next go/ exercise/ session/ a break. Does it make more sense now? I believe consciously creating good transitions can make a huge difference to your training and your dogs focus, confidence and work ethics. Start putting them into practice now and I promise you will feel the difference in the next few sessions! I will go even further saying that outstanding performance in competition is not possible without good transitions used as one of training foundations.

Transitions and structure are needed especially in very specific moments eg.: 1. you just run a sequence and want to listen to your instructor before another go, 2. you have finished one full obedience exercise and want to move to another one, 3. you had a training session and want to give the pup a break and put them away to the crate. In these little moments it's really crucial to be smart and make sure your transitions are fun, energetic and easy for the dog to follow.

Some ideas for the first example... while listening to your instructor giving you feedback... :

• Keep on playing with your dog (if your dog is very toy motivated, choose the game that is easy)

• Do some happy tricks (usually dogs love spins, leg weaves, jumping up etc.)

• Reward with food by throwing/ rolling/ giving more than one treat.

• Personal Play - praise, clap your hands, move away from your dog.

• Give your dog an easy, previously rewarded boundary task (bed/ sit/ down) - this cannot be something that you have just started teaching!

• Put the dog away to the crate, put them on lead.

Of course there are dogs that won't mind that much if we are super neat with our transitions or not, or will forgive an occasional lack of focus and structure and will still be happily working even though our attention is not fully there. But the blog is about working with Sensitive and/ or Distracted dogs plus - even if you don't own a sensitive dog, these will put your training onto a different level!

Transition Cues

This is another level of transitions and is used in Competitive Obedience a lot. In short, it's a special command that is not a part of any other exercise but keeps the dog's engagement in between them. I have also been using the idea for Agility for the moment of moving from the cue to the start line. Talking about that is another blog so I am just briefly mentioning it to you - but let me know if you would like to read more about putting Transition Cues into practice!

In Training

I can imagine I have been considered a bit unsociable in the Agility classes I went to, as usually I was paying attention to my dog so much - trying to do smooth transitions, and thinking about what we need to improve while on the breaks. Do you know what? I don't care - It's always worth the energy and focus I get back from my dog! 😄 When I am holding a workshop I always try to make sure people pay attention to their dogs first THEN to me and what I want to say after the exercise/ sequence. It is crucial to give your dog feedback instantly, even more so if you have a delicate one.

Train yourself to do transitions, observe your dog and evaluate what is working best. Focus on your dog - at the end this is supposed to be your quality time together 🙂

That's a long one for sure! Do you like it? Is everything clear enough? Please let me know!

I need some feedback too! 😄