Baseline data

As I've got increasingly geeky with my dog related interests I find the two largest areas of my life (dog training, and science) increasingly interacting and related.

Dog training today is gaining more and more research into the validity, and effects of various aspects of training. Which is pretty freaken cool! Being able to justify, with evidence, who you use a particular method, and why we don't use another is, in my opinion, a huge step towards being a professional body that is recognized as being science-based, and best practice. Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, there are not laws and professional standards about those who call themselves dog trainers. So whilst there are many trainers that are using science and best practice, and continually undertaking professional development, unfortunately, there are many that are not.

As an agility and canine fitness specialist trainer, the use of science is even more relevant and important. Unfortunately, the way that science works is that someone needs to fund research. And the world of agility, and fitness, at the moment is very small. Generally, research is funded if it will impact the income of a company, product, or treatment in some way. Basically, it needs to be useful to someone. And there are not many agility communities that have the money to put into great science research just because it's worthwhile or needed. That means that much of the research we do have is related to rehabilitation, specific products, or owner questionnaire based which is not the most valid form of data.

So why is data important to YOU, and what data can you collect and use? 

There are two ways that you can better use science, and data for you and your canine companions.

The first is by being critical of the sources of information that you use, and search for science that backs up the ideas that you read about. You can do this by:

• Understand basic science. If you don't, learn. Coursera has a whole bunch of fantastic FREE online courses. Whilst there are some fantastic courses related to dogs, learning and training start with some basic science ones like https://www.coursera.org/learn/scientist#
• Looking for reference lists at the end of articles. These should list some scientific journal articles. 
• Use Google Scholar as a search engine. This specifically searches in the journal articles published. https://scholar.google.co.nz/ 
• Look for information produced by authors with valid qualifications. This article is written by a very well qualified veterinary specialist, who live's in my country, and has treated dog's of people I know. Also check out the references at the end of the article! http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/sporting-dog-injuries

The second way is by collecting your own data on your training, and your dogs. 

• How about keeping records of your own training. This can be as simple as what you train and when, or more complex such as the number of times that you reinforce a particular behavior, or an in-depth training plan and record of progress. https://soundcloud.com/sarah-stremming/keeping-records-against-all-odds 
• Keep regular data on your dogs. For canine fitness and agility training, these are things like images of a sit, stand and down, muscle measurements, video of movement (walking and trotting), and other measures of fitness. Remember if you don't want to (or can't) do this by yourself there is always someone around you can pay to do it for you! 
• Get baseline data on your performance dogs. This means BEFORE you start any agility specific training! The things I want to know are: 
• Are there any health, or structural issues I need to be aware of. This means performing any required health testing prior to starting agility specific training. 
• Are there any joint, muscle or other soft tissue issues's I need to be aware of? 
• Are there any behavioral, or temperament issues I need to be aware of? 

The reason for the collection of this data is that you need to consider all of these factors before starting your agility training. Your dog has a weak topline? Core specific fitness work is necessary before starting agility. Your dog has a straight front and lacks shoulder muscle? You need to add strength before starting weave pole training. Your dog is over aroused with toys? Then you need to be an excellent trainer with food to ensure optimum arousal levels, before you start jump work and flinging toys. 

So why talk about this now? Because today at 11 weeks old Flori had her first check over by my animal physio (http://animalfisio.co.nz/). To check that there are no issues that I need to know about now. 

And in her future, she will most definitely be getting a SyncCanine body scan with Rachel at Hydropaws. This is to get great valid baseline data, to help for if she does have any issues later on. 

So. Do all the science. 

Introducing..... Florimania!

I've officially crossed into crazy dog lady territory. Yip, I'm now destined to be single forever. I'm turning my crazy life even crazier, by adding to my furry family.

This is Florimania. She's a working cocker spaniel from a local gun dog breeder. I've always enjoyed having different breeds of dogs having started with a husky cross border collie, and some border collies, and a weird terrier thing. I feel like it makes me a better trainer, working with different breeds, sizes, and personalities.

Her registered name will be 'Caderyn Leicestershire botanist' (or similar), pet name Florimania (or Flori). Florimania means a craze for flowers and for me represents her sweet and girls side, also her crazy zoomie gremlin side.  Caderyn is her breeder's kennel name, and all her littermates will have 'L' English towns or counties. I picked Leicestershire because apparently, it's official flower is the 'Common dog violet' which is a pretty purple flower.

I've got a few friends with gun dogs, and recently had the privilege of getting to know another working cocker puppy Inkie, who kind of stole my heart.

This decision was far from easy. I'm paying a mortgage on my own, money is very carefully managed. Time is as always an issue. And as always I want to ensure that all my dog's get everything that they need. Chace is very dog reactive and can take a really long time to be ok around new dogs. It took 6 months for her to play with Evo. Deo is a terrier and has many terrier traits, which include terrier snarking at dog's he's not sure about!

But timing feels right. Chace is now retired from competition agility, Deo is pretty much where I need him to be skill wise (other than contacts which are a constant work in progress). Evo is still very much a baby dog but making amazing progress. This puppy is ready on the first day of school holidays, giving me two solid weeks to get everyone happy and settled and used to new routines. And I'm incredibly lucky that my dogs are a welcome member of my 'other' full-time job.

I have many plans for this pup, many that still need to be developed and written down. But I'm excited to see where we go!

Thanks to the amazing Emily Taylor for these beautiful photo's of Flori.

If you are interested in following and learning with puppy and me, email me on hybriddogtraining@gmail.com or Facebook PM me to learn about my Hybrid Training Puppy Diary. This is a discussion group where I'll post info, video and more about my journey in applying puppy culture protocol, socializing,  introducing puppy to a multi-dog household with a reactive dog, teaching domestic skills, and starting work on the foundation skills for becoming a performance dog.

A big few days! Milestones for Chace and Deo

So last weekend I had a crazy few days. At the end of the school term I don't usually enter shows, as I know how physically and emotionally exhausted I tend to be. This never bodes well for successful competition. However some friends convinced me to enter the Wanganui agility show, and one of them drove me and all the dogs so I didn't have to worry about driving.

There were two main reasons for deciding to go (other than awesome friends). These were that I had entered Chace, and had planned for it to be her last show before retiring from agility competition. The second was that I've been chasing the one final agility challenge that Deo needed for champion!

Chace has taught me just so much as a dog trainer. About stress, about fitness, about dog reactivity, and about doing what's best for your dog. I'm so proud that she has gone from a chronically anxious stressy dog to a much happier and much less anxious dog. I'm very proud of her multiple champion titles, and that I am able to retire her at her happiest and fittest. Her best run of the weekend didn't place, but her time was great and amongst excellent dogs.

Here's her best run of the weekend:

I'm a big believer in not running dogs that are physically or mentally not able to cope. And I learnt this with Chace. I got her as my 'serious agility dog' and in the beginning competed her when I shouldn't have, as she was just to stressed. As I learnt more and recognized this I began to only enter her sporadically, and scratch her from any run I thought she couldn't cope with. I also had been tapering off her entries and runs even more over the last year in preparation for retirement from agility competition so that she didn't suddenly go from competing lots, to not at all.

Of course, she will still continue with all the different types of training and fitness work that we do, her hydrotherapy, and try to progress her nosework.  Because it's great to keep her working and active, and she loves it!

I'm also extremely proud to let you know that in this same weekend Deo got the final win that he needed to become an agility champion! Contacts have forever been our nemesis as he is a very food motivated dog, and it has been difficult to translate the perfect training contact to anything that resembles a good contact in the ring. This will forever be a work in progress for us, but I'm so pleased to have made progress.

Deo's winning senior run (no video, unfortunately!)

In New Zealand when you make up a huge title like champion then the tradition is a wetting. This means buckets, being dragged into puddles, or into a stream. I know it's weird, but it's just a part of it! Of course it was a freezing cold weekend, but that didn't stop my friends from finding the fire hose and dousing me.  They did make it up to me by a great (and entertaining) Thai dinner later that night after I had warmed up.

And.... then a new addition to the Hybrid Training team was picked up on Monday! But more on that soon.....