Post by oldetyme on May 4, 2011 17:44:56 GMT
motivation... comparing the oldetyme warrior (fighting dog) with his modern counterpart the superlative athlete and the differences that motivate them. It seems to me that there is a big difference when it comes to motivation of the fighting dog and the modern day athlete, the fighting dog works in a much higher gear, where as the modern athlete works in a much lower gear, i believe a lot comes down to what motivates one from the other. The fighting dog has much to motivate him, such as the desire to dominate his opponent, to kill or even eat his opponent (my dog will eat your dog) there is much truth in this saying, this type of dog was known to have a hungry nature and would be trained and conditioned to eat his opponent so that he would have a focal point to aim for and a strong motivation! This characteristic could also become part of the dogs nature and be bred into a dog or even a line, there is also self preservation being another strong motive to continue the fight.
The modern athlete i believe lacks these strong motives and thereby works in a much lower gear and lacks the desire to go that bit further! maybe an exception would be the dog that takes part in tug o war, he having at least the desire to dominate his opponent, this maybe why such matches (tow) go on longer than many other athletic pursuits!
What motivates the modern athlete? desire to please his/ her owner as in weight pulling or drag pulling, or to chase as in a-frame, track mill or lure racing. Today i was thinking about what motivates a dog to drag pull weights over a long distance other than to follow or please his owner, i dont feel this is a strong incentive to keep going, is there a way of training or even conditioning a dogs mind to go beyond these limits!!! Pavlov conditioned a dog to produce saliva on command by ringing a bell! could a dog be conditioned to go further than say its usual limits of just following his owner? could a dog be conditioned in a similar way to Pavlov's dog? could a dog be conditioned to produce adrenalin on command acting as a turbo boost, every now and then you could ring the bell and the dog gets a rush of adrenalin secreting into its system and all of a sudden the dog begins to pull more! this theory may work with a dog who has a hungry nature like that of the fighting dog! A dog who loves food. I have just been listening to my own dogs as they get fed at eight every evening and they go ballistic, they also have learnt by the sound of coronation street music (my misses) that it is dinner time and at the half way mark when the interval plays that tune the dogs start up, a bit like Pavlov's dog, they have been conditioned to the sounds and thereby get a rush. Sometimes When walking my dogs (if they are not watching corrie) before their last feed i have noticed they go through three phases, first they pull like mad, secondly they calm down and thirdly when they make a turn for home they start to pull again as they know they are going to be fed, the closer they get to home the more they pull!
The method i am suggesting is food motivated and the type of food you use is also important, better to feed raw than kibble as kibble is not so appetizing. When you take your dog out for its next drag pull, take someone with you with your dogs feed in a bowl, only do a short pull at first, have the other person stand at the end, when your dog reaches the end, just before you feed him, ring the bell, praise and feed, you can add more distance each time, when your dog has got used to this method hopefully you should notice how much keener your dog is! also you can start to ring the bell at different times during the pull and you should notice that your dog starts to pull more when ever you do this as adrenalin is being secreted into his system giving the dog like a turbo boost, the food is his main motivation but the bell is also motivating him/her. This method is as yet untried but i hope to put it into pratice when i start training my bitch, i will give an update once we have started training which wont be for a few months as she is still young and i want her to mature before i get her a fitted harness. if this method does indeed work! it might be an idea to have heavy weights in the tyre from the start as i imagine the dog would after a while become like a screaming banshee to get going and may leave you behind, you can take weights off as you go and the dog slows down, i appreciate this method may not be to everyones liking but appreciation is the basis for understanding.
The modern athlete i believe lacks these strong motives and thereby works in a much lower gear and lacks the desire to go that bit further! maybe an exception would be the dog that takes part in tug o war, he having at least the desire to dominate his opponent, this maybe why such matches (tow) go on longer than many other athletic pursuits!
What motivates the modern athlete? desire to please his/ her owner as in weight pulling or drag pulling, or to chase as in a-frame, track mill or lure racing. Today i was thinking about what motivates a dog to drag pull weights over a long distance other than to follow or please his owner, i dont feel this is a strong incentive to keep going, is there a way of training or even conditioning a dogs mind to go beyond these limits!!! Pavlov conditioned a dog to produce saliva on command by ringing a bell! could a dog be conditioned to go further than say its usual limits of just following his owner? could a dog be conditioned in a similar way to Pavlov's dog? could a dog be conditioned to produce adrenalin on command acting as a turbo boost, every now and then you could ring the bell and the dog gets a rush of adrenalin secreting into its system and all of a sudden the dog begins to pull more! this theory may work with a dog who has a hungry nature like that of the fighting dog! A dog who loves food. I have just been listening to my own dogs as they get fed at eight every evening and they go ballistic, they also have learnt by the sound of coronation street music (my misses) that it is dinner time and at the half way mark when the interval plays that tune the dogs start up, a bit like Pavlov's dog, they have been conditioned to the sounds and thereby get a rush. Sometimes When walking my dogs (if they are not watching corrie) before their last feed i have noticed they go through three phases, first they pull like mad, secondly they calm down and thirdly when they make a turn for home they start to pull again as they know they are going to be fed, the closer they get to home the more they pull!
The method i am suggesting is food motivated and the type of food you use is also important, better to feed raw than kibble as kibble is not so appetizing. When you take your dog out for its next drag pull, take someone with you with your dogs feed in a bowl, only do a short pull at first, have the other person stand at the end, when your dog reaches the end, just before you feed him, ring the bell, praise and feed, you can add more distance each time, when your dog has got used to this method hopefully you should notice how much keener your dog is! also you can start to ring the bell at different times during the pull and you should notice that your dog starts to pull more when ever you do this as adrenalin is being secreted into his system giving the dog like a turbo boost, the food is his main motivation but the bell is also motivating him/her. This method is as yet untried but i hope to put it into pratice when i start training my bitch, i will give an update once we have started training which wont be for a few months as she is still young and i want her to mature before i get her a fitted harness. if this method does indeed work! it might be an idea to have heavy weights in the tyre from the start as i imagine the dog would after a while become like a screaming banshee to get going and may leave you behind, you can take weights off as you go and the dog slows down, i appreciate this method may not be to everyones liking but appreciation is the basis for understanding.
(and yes,I feed raw)
