| Connie Cleveland seminar "Dogs are Problem Solvers" Hosted by The Third Leg Club Kalamazoo, Michigan August 9-10, 2003 |
| Izzee and I had never gone out of town overnight for a show or seminar before. I got home from work on Friday evening, and spent some time finishing up my packing. I didn't need to throw half of the clothes out of my suitcase. All I had in it was a couple of clean t-shirts, socks, and underwear, plus a pair of shorts in case it was too hot for jeans. Most of my packing was stuff for Izzee, including a small cooler with frozen plastic bottles of water, so she'd have the water she was used to. I left at 7:30 pm, anticipating about a 3-hour drive to Kalamazoo. After a little over an hour, I took a quick rest stop, leaving Izzee in the car while I ran in to the bathroom, then taking her out for a drink of water, and a quick run-around and pee. We arrived at the motel at about 10:00, so my drive was only about 2-1/2 hours, after all. I took Izzee into the office while I registered, and asked for a ground floor room, which wasn't available. But we were on the end, right by the outside stairway. Izzee put her front paws up on the counter to beg for a treat. It was just like the pet supply stores, where cashiers always give her cookies! I took everything up to the room, but left Izzee's crate in the car, as the hotel rules asked that dogs not be left unattended. Neither of us slept a lot on Friday night. I was too nervous and excited, and Izzee woofed at every little noise from outside our motel-room door. |
| I remembered to bring a sheet to cover the bed. I chose one we rarely use, a blue flannel with penguins all over it. Here's Izzee in our room: |
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| The seminar was just fantastic. Connie talks about her method and philosophy of training, and takes lots of time to make sure that the audience is following and understanding what she is saying. Problem Solving is her focus in these seminars, not just her philosophy about training. So she tries to get everyone at the seminar up on the floor for a turn to work on something. We got up early on Saturday morning. I had us ready to leave almost 2 hours before the seminar started. A woman in the parking lot asked if I was going over already, and I told her that I was nervous and excited, and didn't know how long it would take to get there. "15 minutes," she told me, so I put Izzee on her long line and let her run around a bit on the grass. The Kalamazoo Kennel Club was easy to find, and a very nice site. When I got there, I left Izzee in the car while I went in to scout the situation. I took in my chair and found a good spot for it, and put my training bag in the crating spot I'd picked nearby. Last of all, I brought in Izzee and her crate. I got all settled, and went to check in and get some breakfast. The first person I met was Connie, who came up and introduced herself when I first came in. Connie started the seminar by introducing herself, giving us her background and detailing her notion of dogs as problem solvers, and how her training methodology has evolved from what she learned by studying with trainers including Diane Bauman and Robert Self. She emphasized two things that have really stuck in my mind. (1) Use of corrections: -- (A) When the dog is TRYING to figure out what you want, and is either confused or fearful, (an effort error) you HELP the dog. -- (B) When the dog is NOT TRYING, knows what to do, but is refusing to do it, (a LACK OF EFFORT error) you correct the dog. -- (C) Connie uses only 2 basic corrections: ---- (i) A pop on the collar for not paying attention. ---- (ii) An ear pinch for not retrieving. *** Please note that Connie actually TEACHES the dog what these corrections mean, and how to STOP the correction and AVOID the correction. (2) Be sure you can tell the difference between the TECHNIQUE you are using and your GOAL. If a technique you are using is not getting you closer to your goal, don't give up the goal, just try another technique. On the first break, Connie asked folks to come sign up with her to work on their problems on the floor in front of everyone. She organized the related problems together, so that the flow from one dog to another was very smooth, and made a lot of sense. She pointed out the similarities and contrasts between the various dogs she worked with, getting lots of feedback from the audience on whether they were "reading" the dog the same way she was (in terms of whether the dog was trying or not, needing guidance or correction.) I was feeling too shy to sign up with her, and thought I'd wait until Sunday. I took some pictures of dogs working, but didn't get very good shots, and didn't feel right about posting others' dogs without asking them. Besides, I was so busy taking notes, I kept forgetting to take pictures of the dogs I really liked the best! Here's Izzee lying at my feet while I watched in fascination and took notes. |
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| I had Izzee laying at my feet, except during breaks, and she was being her usual self, getting whinier the longer she was left in her crate. I tried to leave her in there only when I went to the bathroom or into the kitchen area to get food. (Continental breakfast, snacks and lunch were provided by the Third Leg Club, and were included in the cost of the seminar.) Near the end of one of the breaks, as I walked back to let Izzee out of her crate, Connie came up and asked me if that was my dog making all the noise. "Oh, no," I thought, "Connie Cleveland is going to tell me I shouldn't have brought her, or is going to ask me to put her out in the car, or to leave, or ..." I told her it was, and she said, "Would you like to work on that?" "YES, PLEASE!!" She had solved this problem for a German Shepherd by having him hold a tennis ball in his mouth, but for this technique to work, you have to have a failure-to-retrieve correction, like an ear pinch. He couldn't whine with the ball in his mouth, and was busy remembering to hold the ball. Since Izzee had not been taught an ear pinch correction, we couldn't use that technique. Connie suggested that Izzee's whining was a request to come out of her crate, something that I have certainly rewarded by letting her out when she's made too much noise in a crate in class or at a show. So here's what we tried. I put Izzee in her crate with the door open, and told her to stay. If she started whining, we had someone else encourage her to come out, at which point I came down on her like a ton of bricks, ordering her back in to her crate. It made quite a difference, and I was able to leave her in it with the door open. It made Izzee responsible for her own behavior. I also bought a set of Connie's tapes at the seminar. I'd been eyeing them for a while anyway, and after watching her work, I decided to spring for them. There were 3 other members of my Springer club there, and 2 of them got up to work with their dogs, so I got to watch Connie work with other Springers, which was very cool. Saturday evening I drove back over to the motel, stopping at the McDonald's drive-thru for food to take back to the room. I fed Izzee and ate dinner in front of the TV. I started watching a movie, and began dozing off a little after 8 pm. So I got ready for bed, and went to sleep at 8:30!!! (My usual bedtime is about 10:30 or 11:00.) Somewhere around midnight, Izzee woke me for a potty break. I pulled on shorts and sandals, and we went out for her quick break. (Good Izzee's Mom, I had remembered to bring a bunch of plastic bags, and to stick one in my pocket every time we went out.) We went back in, I went back to bed, and was sound asleep until 7 the next morning, when my wake-up call sounded. When we got to the seminar on Sunday morning, I put Izzee in her crate, told her to stay, and left the door open. Then I went for coffee and a bagel. Since I'd been thinking about what I wanted to work on the night before, I went up to Connie and asked if I could get on her list for today to learn how to teach an ear pinch correction. She had 2 other dogs to do it with, too, so we got to see 3 very different breeds (Springer, Golden, and Maltese) with 3 very different personalities work on it. So Izzee and I got our first ear pinch lesson from/with Connie Cleveland! Since she and Brian always start this with 2 people, it was great! Connie did the pinching first, while I handled the dumbbell. Once Izzee started to get the idea of what the pinch meant, the whole task got transferred to me. One of the cool things about the seminar was the variety of breeds in attendance, from Newfoundland to Powderpuff Chinese Crested! The other important thing I was reminded of was that you need to tailor the correction to the dog. Don't give a $5 ticket if it has no effect. And don't give a $50 ticket to a dog that responds to a $10 ticket! Your dog must be OFFENDED by the correction. If you EVER get a chance to go to a Connie Cleveland seminar, GO!! And take your dog if you possibly can!! |
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