Pressure is a big word these days. Many people are under pressure simply by living in today's world.
Pressure in itself ok, but if there is no relief from the pressure, then it becomes stressful.
When training, we need to apply pressure on the dog to communicate with him what we require. Position is also important here. Pressure in the wrong position will not achieve the desired result; in fact, it may create the opposite to what we want.
So firstly, we need to find the position where we can effectively communicate and then apply the least amount of pressure necessary to achieve the desired outcome. If we start low, so to speak, then we can always increase the pressure if we need to. Starting too high can not only confuse the dog but can also give us nowhere to go.
So when training for a stop, we need to set it up so we can calmly get into the correct position, without having to run to block the dog. To do this we may just wait for the correct opportunity to present itself and move into position.
The most important thing here is to release the pressure the instant we get a response, so the dog knows this is what we want. Holding that pressure too long can cause the dog to look for an avenue of escape. So even if you get a stop, but then continue the pressure, the dog may get confused with what we are asking. This may cause him to flank off again, turn tail, or simply show signs of confusion.
This is what we don’t want. The clearer we can make our request known, he quicker the dog learns. Dogs under too much pressure are not thinking.
For the dog to learn the best they need to be thinking. A panicked or anxious dog is not thinking and is not learning. Pressure can be something as simple as staring at the dog or even having your body squarely facing him. We need to stop staring at the dog, and turn our body away a little, if he moves then the pressure can be reapplied. I like the dog to relax in his stops, people are too quick to send them off again, let them sit and relax with no pressure for a few minutes.
It’s the same when asking for flanks. If he is flanking around well, don’t keep applying pressure behind him. This can also panic the dog, and then we wonder why his flanks are so fast. So, pressure on, pressure off. If holding a rake or stick, make sure you can keep it neutral when not in use. Dogs are so conscious of our body position and pressure that applying it wrongly can create all sorts of issues.
All dogs are different, by reading the dogs mental state we can more easily know how, when, and where to apply pressure. We want the dog to calmly respond, not be in a panic or stop out of fear. In this way he will learn much quicker.
