Agility, Working, & Herding Dogs: Working Pairs

Working Pairs: The Jinx of Criticism

The latest on working in pairs

We’re a working pair when competing in agility, herding, or working with our dogs. What we say to our dogs influences their performance, and new research suggests we should keep our critical mouths shut.

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.

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.

Rewards help ensure continued improvement

This NSF research did not extend into the area of continued improvement, but we all know what makes our dogs continue to improve:

• love
• training
• rewards

There will be times you’re working with a dog that is not performing up to potential, and want to focus on improving its 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.

The articles here were answered by a variety of pharmacists and veterinarians   Date Category Topic 02/25/08  Training Aid  PROBLEM WITH MALE CAT SPRAYING 02/23/08  Training Aid  HOUSE BREAKING 02/23/08  Allergy  ALLERGIC REACTION/SIDE EFFECTS OF MEDSD 02/23/08  Other  RESCUED SCOTTISH TERRIER POOPS ON LIVING ROOM RUG 02/22/08  Training Aid  CHEWING SHRUBS 02/17/08  Anxiety Relief  CHEWING 02/15/08  Pet Treats  IT BEHAVES TIMID 02/15/08  Other  CAT WASTE 02/13/08  Other  ANXIETY 02/10/08  Other  LICKING PEOPLE / GROOMING 02/08/08  Urinary Tract/Kidneys  URINATION 02/05/08  Digestive Care  DIARRHEA 02/04/08  Other  DUAL PERSONALITIES 02/04/08  Anxiety Relief  4 YR OLD RAT TERRIER POOPS ALL OVER IF I LEAVE 02/03/08  Other  BEHAVIOR 1 2 3 4 5 »»

 

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