We get on planes and in cars and maybe we are excited about where we are going if it is for pleasure.  Or maybe we are apprehensive if it is for business, or any number of other emotions that are tied to the destination and perhaps the departure location.  We know what to pack, and we know, at least at a base level, how to prepare for where we are going.

Our working dogs get in the car or on the plane and maybe they are going to the vet 10 miles away, or maybe they are going to the lake for a swim, or maybe they are going 1000 miles south to weather that is 63F warmer to work for 4 days.  How do they prepare for that?  How are they always in the right mind set, conditioning and level of understanding to be effective no matter where that big blue van pulls up and the door slides open?

 

Training and training and a bit more training, that’s how!  But we can do better than that.  We cannot just repeat the same thing over and over again in one environment and expect that to translate.  We have to be able to develop training plans with criteria progression to take that young dog from sheltered and inexperienced to world-traveling 4-legger who takes everything in stride.

 

So, let’s break it down, beginning with the travel itself.  It has to be fun and rewarding, or at least not stressful and miserable!  A dog that is stressed in a vehicle will often need significantly more adjustment and acclimation time once the destination is reached.  Do we even know how long that takes?  Could we guess that a dog that pants and circles and whines is burning through a lot of calories, their brain is tied in a knot and they are probably more dehydrated than a dog who lays calmly in his crate and only raises his head when the vehicle stops?  Do I want to take the chance?

 

So, regardless of what the dog’s job is, if they have to travel to do it, then that has to be one of the training lanes we work on regularly.  We can do this by associating the vehicle with all things good such as food or play in and around the stationary vehicle.  Then begin with short comfortable trips, taking advantage of every mode of transport to be found.

Another training lane that deserves lots of time and energy is teaching the dog to be calm.  Dogs who are able to control their emotions and resist impulsive behavior and who have also been taught their working cues well are a dream to work.  They patiently wait, not expending any extra energy, not heating themselves up, but when the cue is given, they explode into action.  If we add duration, which is one of the three D’s we should be adding to all behaviors, the other two being distractions and distance, we are helping the dog understand that it has to resist impulsive action and that it pays to wait.  You can also select for calm body language, for example when the dog takes a nice deep relaxing breath, maybe he flips his hips over and puts his head down, that’s what you want to mark and reward!  Other exercises that reinforce the idea that waiting patiently pays big time, are ones where a desirable stimulus is delivered but the dog has to hold a different behavior until released.  For example, teaching him to hold a sit at heel as you throw a toy until you release him to fetch it.  The longer you can increase that wait the more he is using his brain to control himself.

 

Add into the home training program a good balanced fitness and condition regime and of course the target work that the dog does for a living and you will roll into your next training workshop or deployment, calm and ready to go, getting the most out of those training dollars or producing the best possible work.