Holding Blind Routine - 5 step process

Waiting in line! It's the least fun part of being at a Hunt Test or trial. But it's necessary. 

And those waiting stations are right where all the gunfire is. Not to mention the intense smells of the dogs who sat there before you two did. More than that, it's where you and the other humans are producing lots of stress hormone.

What if we flip this on it's head and make the holding blind something rewarding to the dog and valuable to our performance at the line!

Most people you'll see at a test, don't think of the Holding Blind process as a thing to train and build value for. And it shows. Not you. You want your dog to enjoy that necessary time waiting and have clarity about what to do and when to do it, lifting the anxiety and discomfort of being there. 

This article lays out all the steps, plus the when and how long. It's a sneak peak at our Webinar coming up this Thursday - a deep dive on creating amazing holding blind routines. It will also be recorded to watch anytime you want. It's only $19.97. Here's the link Field Work: Trouble shooting your Holding Blind Routine

The 5 Steps to Holding Blind greatness!

If you broke down the holding blind experience into 5 action steps, it looks like this:

The Holding Blind process is a behavior chain that you can TRAIN your dog to perform. More than that, you can make it fun and valuable to the dog. Guess what that does for YOU? It takes all the extra anxiety out of it. 
When you get good at this, the holding blind routine becomes something even bigger. It is your warmup and syncing process before your performance on the line. It's the pre-performance. The dog is doing behaviors on cue, You are rewarding those behaviors, and you both get joyful satisfaction and a feeling of great cooperation. Doesn't that sound like an awesome way to go the line?

When should you teach this routine?

Anytime! It's never too late or too early. But I'll give you a personal example of each.

First example: Training it BEFORE. Having a well practiced puppy who knows the routine and loves it!

Reggie !

Reggie learned the Holding Blind routines as a puppy BEFORE going to any field training. It became part of our games in the back yard. It was easy for him! It was like any other game or foundation training we did in the yard. 
In fact, I often used his dinner as a "mark", placing his bowl in the far corner of the yard, then taking him through the holding blinds and heeling to the line, before sending him to his bowl to eat. 

At our first group training event, I chose the most distant holding blind from the line and told people I was going to be using it for a drill. Reggie gladly did all the behaviors and enjoyed his food treats. 

Then I knew I could take a turn at the line with him. We went through the holding blind right before the line, and it was a total cake walk! None of the regular distractions rattled him. Because he knew the behaviors, and how to earn the rewards, no matter what noises or smells or dogs were there. 

When it came time for his first real Senior Hunt Test, off leash, walking to the line, he was clear, calm and focused on the task! It was so cool!! I was awestruck by how smooth it was! It's now 6 years later, and I'm happy to report that it stayed that way, through Master Tests and FT Qualifying stakes. 

Fixing the Problems After the Fact

Harry had a very different childhood! Two things happened. Caretaking for my husband's leg injury put a real limit on Harry's training time at home. Then when Harry turned 6 months, I got invited to join two regular training groups each week - an amazing opportunity!

So Harry and I jumped into highly stimulating group environments without him having the Holding Blind and heel walking foundation training!

To him, the holding blind was an evil barrier to the fun. All he cared about was running the marks! You can guess what happened.

He was so insistent on getting to the marks, that he couldn't settle as we waited our turn. The waiting was like a confusing punishment for him. And he did everything he could to get around it. Pulling left, pulling right, being constantly in motion and rearing up like a rodeo horse. Treats were invisible to him at this point and he certainly didn't want to do control behaviors. 

Luckily, I predicted this and choose to manage it until I could fix it. Often, I could skip the blinds and just walk  him around until it was his turn to do marks. And I could be very patient and gently hold him in when needed. 

Very different case, though, when the dog already knows what excitement lies ahead - which trumps any kind of routine or rewards. So we created Harry's process layer by layer at home first. 

Transitioning back to the training field was the tricky part! But it went much faster than I ever imagined possible. Here's what it took:

1. Bringing my own holding blind from home. 
2. Using a target mat inside the holding blind to create value for getting in, and ease for staying there. 
3. Parking away from the group and setting up our blind by the car to practice there. 
4. Using real chicken meat - his favorite. 
5. Moving the holding blind closer to the group and practicing again
6. Over the course of several visits, moving our holding blind and mat to the actual waiting area and then to the line. 

Harry's understanding and value for the process grew quickly. It became a calming, rewarding sequence to play while the gunfire and duck calls went off for other working dogs ahead of us. It also became a gateway that predicts the rewards of the fun at the line, doing marks and watching the action. 

As a result, it was much easier for Harry to walk at heel with me to the line and be a teamate who sits at heel, steady for each mark. It has been a total transformation! 

Just last week, he was able to sit off leash, engaged with me, taking treats in the blind while a loud working team just on the other side of the fabric ran three marks! I was elated!!
You can see that video up above.

So whether you have a puppy and want to create an amazing head start or you need to fix problems you created with an older pup, this process of creating a clear, rewarding routine really works and works fast!

We're doing a deep dive on this process this week in a webinar with live Q&A. It happens Thursday February 29th at 3pm PT / 5pm Central / 6pm Eastern.  It will be recorded too, for you watch anytime on any day. 
The webinar will show how to teach each step as well as how to transition from the house to the field to the test environment. It's really more like a workshop, and it's fun to watch.
You purchase it through Fenzi Dog Sports Academy for $19.97 and get access to the live session as well as the recording to watch anytime. It stays in your Fenzi library. You don't have to pay any membership fees. 

Here's the learn more: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/buy-webinar