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You and Your Dog: A Working Pair
As the owner of an agility, herding, or working dog, you and your dog are considered a working pair. What you say to your dog influences their performance, and new research suggests pet owners should keep criticisms to a minimum.
A National Science Foundation (NSF) study shows that two perform better than one—even when participants feel the other person is a hindrance.
The NSF study, which was published in the May 2006 issue of Psychological Science, has information that can help us perform better in competition or when working with a canine partner. Let's look at the research, which required two people to work without speaking and without being able to do the other's job:
- When two people could not see or speak with each other, and did not have a previous history of working together, they quickly developed a pattern so that one assumed part of the task and the other assumed another part of the task.
- Many participants felt their partners were a hindrance, even when the task was going smoothly.
- Because participants could not speak, they were prevented from criticizing each other.
The study suggests that being silent prevented partners from jinxing the success of their partnership with criticism.
Dog Breeds:
- Australian Shepherd
- Border Collie
- Collie
- English Shepherd
- German Shepherd
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- Labrador Retriever
- Longhaired Whippet
- McNab
- Old English Sheepdog
- Silken Windhound
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| Types of Working Dog Pair Events |
| Agility
AKC Conformation
Canine Good Citizen
Earthdog
Field Trials
Herding
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Lure Coursing
Obedience
Rally
Search & Rescue
Tracking |
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Two perform better than one
Inability to criticize improves performance
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Positively Acknowledging Our Dog's Contribution
When partnered with our dogs, are we like participants in the NSF study, secretly believing our dog is inefficient? Do we undermine our dog's performance by communicating that we're disappointed? Do we reward the positive, or correct the negative? Could we, like the study participants, be successful if forbidden to speak while working or competing?
Even if we don't voice criticism, most dogs sense disappointment. Would it be possible for us to trust in research that shows two perform better than one, and stop even thinking of criticizing our dogs? The odds are we'd perform better.
We reward dogs immediately after they perform a desired behavior, but we can also reward them spontaneously to show we like being with them. Use a reward that's easy to carry in a pocket and won't crumble: Crumps' Healthy & Natural Liver Fillets and the sweet potato chip, Sweet Potato Rawhide. Both are also delicious and healthy. They do not include additives, preservatives, or artificial colors.
There will be times you're working with a dog that is not performing up to potential, and want to focus on improving the ability to learn. Two things have been found to help:
- Omega 3 fatty acids from flax
- Omega 3 fatty acids from cold-water fish
Use Omega 3 fatty acids to nourish your dog's brain. Research done by Hills Pet Food shows that Omega 3 fatty acids improve trainability and learning. The best Omega fatty acids are found in Be Well with organic flax, organic barley sprouts, and organic decaffeinated green tea. Be Well also contains molasses (sugar removed), sunflower seeds, beef liver, alfalfa, carrot, fish, oyster, kelp, lecithin, garlic and yucca. Be Well for Dogs has 1000 mg of Omega 3 per serving.
Another source of brain-fortifying Omega 3 fatty acids is cold-water fish oil. The purest fish oil is Nordic Natural's Omega-3 Pet. Nordic Naturals was officially recognized as having the best fish oils in Norway-- where standards are the strictest in the world.
Enjoying the Experience
By using the latest research telling us to avoid criticism and the best treats and supplements, we increase the probability that our dogs will perform optimally. And, we will have maximum enjoyment working and competing with our partners.
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Recommended Pet Products for Working Dogs:
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