Recording

Keep a trialing and/or a training diary? Dedicated and organized trainers in most sports use them. If you can be just a tiny bit organized they are great for identifying problems and for helping you see how far you’ve progressed.

I don’t keep a training diary but I do try very hard to track the good and bad of our trial runs. I’ve written about using Agility Record Book (ARB) to record my runs so I can track our progression toward titles and to see if we’ve qualified for National events. Just as important is recording the good and bad of each run. I found just taking a few notes on each run right after it happen lets me look back and see the bigger picture of where our trialing issues lie.

I should do the same for each training run/session too…

Here is an ARB export of the date, my comments, and if we Q’d from the last few trial runs for Flyer and me:

You can see I record the good, bad, my handling failings, course scenarios, and training holes. Sometimes it isn’t pretty but most of the time it is just one thing only on non-qualifying runs. What I need to start doing is adding in my training “buts” on each course where I didn’t run a plan I would have liked to.

You don’t have to use ARB as your record keeping application. Many folks use basic spreadsheets or you could use a plain paper notebook in your training bag. This is so simple but so important!

So now you have your successes, your buts, and your issues in one place.

What First? What Next?

To me, the comments are just raw data. You need to take a quick look over them after a trial weekend and see if anything new is happening, any old problems resolved (hopefully due to your training), or if any pattern is emerging.

Many years ago I worked as a Manufacturing Engineer (ME). An ME’s job revolves around finding ways to speed up manufacturing processes, reduce defects and improve flexibility. One of the most important analysis tools I learned was Pareto Analysis. Huh? Imagine you took note of every miscue, fault, and undesired behavior that happens during each trial run (or during practice). In manufacturing those undesired events would be called defects. Pareto analysis says count each category of defect and order them by how often they occurred. Most manufacturing areas create a bar chart of defects ranked by their frequency. In it’s simplest form an ME’s job each day/week/month is to look at that chart and tackle the most frequent problem first until it isn’t the most frequent (hopefully eliminating it) and then take the next most frequent. Lather-rinse-repeat. This simple process of iterating over the defect categories to reduce them is what all the top manufacturing organizations use to continuously improve their products/manufacturing.

You can do it in dog training too!

My comments for each trial run are the basis for my informal pareto analysis. Looking back over my notes these are the three biggest issues (apart from my handling mistakes) in this order:

• Not holding 2o2o position on the dog walk/teeter (and my failure to mark it in trial situations).
• Not holding start line stays.
• Dropped first bars.

So now that I have identified my biggest training holes it is up to me to work on those issues when we train (you can see some of the newer entries are showing the benefit of our work on start line stays and dropped first bars by switching from a down to a sit at the start).

Making the Most of Training Sessions

I have to admit to not always having a concrete plan for each training session. If I’m working at home we might train in the morning, lunch, and before dinner. Many short sessions are much more valuable than a 1/2 hour or hour long session. “Real” dog trainers also have a plan before starting even the shortest session. I’ve found once I take the time to identify the top 3 issues it is much easier to target one of them in a training session. If you work on it you’ll see results!

Here’s another tip you can use. Actually write down your list of training issues. It can be as simple as putting them on a scrap of paper on your refrigerator or back door. I use a to do list program on my phone and I created a project called “Flyer” in which I put all my buts and my current training issues. I use a program called TeuxDeux which shares my to do lists across my computers and, for a small annual fee, on my phone. Many of us have smart phones and this is an easy way to always have our training tasks with us.

This approach of recording your successes and issues after each run isn’t anything new and doing it isn’t rocket science. But it does pay off. When Meeker and I went 0 for 7 in Starters Snooker I saw the trend in my ARB comments and realized I was over thinking my plans and after than I learned to love Snooker.

So take the time to record your comments about each run. Look through them every week and tackle your most frequent issues first. You’ll feel so much better knowing you are working on the important stuff and you’ll feel great when you start experiencing the benefits of resolving those issues!