Your Response is the Key

I can never say this enough- Your response to what your dog is telling you is the key to your team's success. 

Learning what they tell you- the read is your first step.

Second, you must trust the read. If you do not trust it, you will not respond correctly. Your question will make your response to slow or incorrect.

So- do you trust your dog?

We work known trails to get to know our dogs. To read what they are telling us. On, off, searching, messing around - all of it. We don't just follow blindly yet always watching our dogs learning from our dogs. This increases our trust in what they are doing.

We also work known trails to teach ourselves. To learn how to respond. Not to cue our dogs in the right direction, but to learn how to work it out with them. Yes, in the beginning or when working issues, we may cue them, yet you must find balance here. If you cue to much it will show in a blind problem and it will break down the team's trust in each other- you and your dog.

I like to call it muscle memory for the handler- what you do when you follow your dog. What you do every time you take the end of the line. You must do this repeatedly on known trails to have that muscle memory on a blind. 

Response is not just what you do when your dog gives you a negative, but what you do every step of the trail.

Response is not running with your dog yet moving quickly with their decisions. Trusting what they are telling you.

Response is not checking every intersection but following your dog thru the intersection if they are telling you they have it. And, when you know they are going the right way but decide they are not you work with them to reacquire. If that means working the swiss cross you begin to do so- WITH at least one eye on the dog- because when they have decided on a direction you follow you do not complete the cross. Response is not directing. Response is trust.

Will you follow your dog the wrong way sometimes- yes. Simply yes. We all have. If you respond to your dog well, you trust them and yourself you have a better chance of getting back on trail. If you work out a wrong direction on a known trail you will learn how to work it out on a blind. Your read of what is happening will become stronger increasing the strength of your response.

I like to call the response a dance- I am in movement with what my dog is telling me. I work this dance so many times on known trails so when I work it blind it should look the same. It should feel the same. 

Response takes confidence. Confidence in your dog. Confidence in yourself. If you question your response, it may be too late. Example your dog is strong on a straight path, then they stop and begin to turn if you are not ready for their movement you can push them forward or delay them making the correct choice. 

How is your response? Look at your known trails to your blinds. Is there a mileage difference? a mile trail on a known you cover exactly a mile, but blind you go three trying to find the trail? Is there a time difference? 1/2 mile known takes 17 minutes blind it takes an hour? I believe these should be similar if not look at your response.

Remember every trail is blind to your dog. If they get stuck on a known and you steer them in the right direction, they will ask you to do it on a blind. You have taught them to do so. And, this can lead you the wrong direction.

Remember, your brain does not have the nose! Our brains, our plans, our ideas can get in the way of our response. Train that dance, the muscle memory to follow the dog not your brain.

Teach yourself, trust yourself to respond to your dog- you will find success on the trails there.

For more thoughts or questions feel free to call or email me.

Happy Trails!