[Discussion] Consent and R+ 2.0 in K9 Sports/Training

[sunshinexsweettea]

Really loved the new Fenzi podcast on the future of R+, what can be improved (lookin' at you sanctimoniousness) and, most of all, in learning how to ask for consent from the dog in certain situations. This is not to be confused with permissiveness (asking means honouring the 'no' so you have a choice not to ask at all) as we all know that a dog just has to do things they dont not want to do.

I'm familiar with consent in petting and cooperative care but it never really struck me how much more can be done with learning how to teach situations the dog can say "No." "I'm not ready." etc in performance sports and learning, as a handler, how to navigate that.

Please have a listen: Podcast

For those of you that have taken Fenzi courses consent has been worked with, what are your thoughts? I'd be really interested in how some handlers navigate away from compulsion/obsession and hit the teamwork dynamic in new ways that produce even better results.

 

[shane19]

@sunshinexsweettea Oh man, this whole concept has rocked my world for the past year and a half or so. I’ve understood consent in the form of cooperative care for my younger dog’s whole life and implemented that ASAP. But consent during play and building a cooperative relationship with toys was completely foreign to me and boy did that cause me to dig a deep, deep hole with her.

I follow Sarah Stremming/Shade Whitesel’s ready to work protocol religiously now. I cleaned up my toy play significantly and my bitch has improved leaps and bounds just from that level of clarity. Using location specific markers as a “test” of where her head is at is amazing. Like literally life changing stuff for me, I could not be where I am with this dog if not for the concepts explored in Shade and Sarah’s classes.

Editing to add a before/after comparison. Consent and clarity and trustworthiness in situations with toys have been my greatest struggle with Echo. I royally screwed up with the way I communicated with her when she was little, and had a big hill to climb to overcome the possessive nature I created/encouraged in her and help her develop a more healthy relationship with me and toys (aka, it’s okay to drop them! I won’t steal them!).

Here’s before, when i just started reaching out for help in working with her. I am CRINGING at how much she doesn’t want to bring the tug back when I finally let go of it. That part I edited out was probably a solid minute of her running around avoiding me yay

And here’s a video from last week, where we cleanly and easily alternate between toys and food, small behaviors, etc. So. Nice.

 

[sunshinexsweettea]

@shane19 Which ones did you take? I'm so hyped to learn more over the summer but don't want to fall into the trap of trying everything at once.

 

[shane19]

@sunshinexsweettea There’s an R+ 2.0 class specifically, but i haven’t taken it yet. Worked Up! And Fix It with Sarah were incredibly. Shade’s toy classes were the most beneficial for me personally, but that’s because toys were what i struggled with.