Two Handlers (kind of) FE520 Discussion

[Alana McGee]

Hi,Thinking ahead again……sorry for the rambling, but writing things down just makes me realize how complicated this can be.Currently….
We also have the video helper syndrome on occasion – aka ‘comments from hubby’ while training and it can be distracting. Sometimes I reply and I others i ignore him – he understands. I am working with Ashley with the mushrooming and most training, Bill does a limited amount of training. We are consistent in our cues, etc. Bill is our awesome support team! He comes to every training class to video and we discuss things after class.

We normally, go mushrooming together so I know having 2 people to work around is going to be kind of a norm for Ashley. When we take walks, Ashley is used to checking-in with both of us and we want to continue to support and develop that.

At what point could/should we consider getting Ashley used to having 2 people looking for mushrooms with her? Is this something we should let evolve or should we have Bill do some training with her on things she is doing well such as normal/hidden (non-buried hides) at home? Or is this too much at this point?

I can see multiple handlers being difficult and confusing.

[Alana McGee]

Hi Annie
We also have the video helper syndrome on occasion – aka ‘comments from hubby’ while training and it can be distracting. Sometimes I reply and I others i ignore him – he understands.

Tell Bill, it?s cool. We say it?s ok, and the ignoring him is encouraged!
This is actually perfect. You should be so focused on Ashley that sometimes, you don?t hear Bill! Your intention should be on Ashley, it?s okay if you don?t respond to him. Tell him we said so 🙂

Because your reality will be you & Bill in the field, yes, you should practice elements of that. because he is already around, filming you, physically present, this may not be such a challenge in some ways. We do cover elements of this in FE530- which is basically 2 person hunting. For now, it is mostly you doing the training it sounds like. For Bill (maybe more so than Ashley) but it depends how sensitive she is to pressure, it may be beneficial to practice some of the training scenarios and ?his? reward delivery to Ashley, so he and she are used to it. But yes, if you do this we would suggest you do it in scenarios that are relatively easy for you & Ashley, so Bill can work on mechanics and delivery. The two of you as handlers will be different, it just happens, but it would be good to practice as that will be the reality for you. Stick to easier scenarios though.

Multiple handlers can be confusing for the dog, but it really depends on how Ashley responds. Some dogs can go from handler to handler, many cannot. You have learned more subtle cues and behavior you take from Ashley?s body language, as you are the one interacting with her- Bill must now do that and build to the same level. He may ?see? it when you guys practice, but doing it oneself is a different matter.

Try and see how it goes. But again, easy scenarios to start with.

[Alana McGee]

We’ll start slowly. Ashley is used to keeping track of both of us. So, I believe we will be ok.
We’ll see.

Bill does understand I will ignore him when needed. It had something to do with me being focused on Ashely and getting in between him and Ashley when he was filming. We had different goals at that moment. Priorities have been agreed upon. 🙂
He may ?see? it when you guys practice, but doing it oneself is a different matter.

So true….. we are both great at figuring out what I could improve on when watching the video.
Luckily, most of the time, we can correct each other happily.

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