Check out this article written by Parthian Climbing Southampton staff members, Lucie and Tom. They summarise their experience with training Hex, their 6 month old working cocker spaniel, to love the crag as much as they do, whilst also being respectful members of the climbing community.
START SLOW – GRADUAL INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF CLIMBING
To build Hex up to full crag days we started by taking her to indoor climbing gyms, getting her comfortable with their surroundings; people falling, chalk in the air, us swinging on ropes – the climbing gym is a crazy place when you think about it! The first few times we had short visits and strictly didn’t climb (incredible self control I know!), staying with her the whole time to ensure it was a positive experience. We then moved on to bouldering sessions, and finally the best kind (sorry boulder bros); sport climbing. Throughout this process we gradually increased the time climbing in between engaging with her, distance she was from us, and duration of session. Once we were happy she loved the gym we introduced her to some more gear and their sounds and then restarted the process outside, following the same steps.
We also focused on comfort, for example bringing her bed and favourite toys with us and feeding her at each new location. We had the luxury of her first outdoor day being accompanied by another familiar crag dog, who put her at ease by showing her the way.
MAKE IT FUN – YOU LOVE CLIMBING, YOUR DOG SHOULD TOO!
The crag is an exciting place with lots of novel smells and terrains, we made sure to make this clear to Hex from the second we arrived at each crag. Despite us itching to get on the rocks we channelled what self-control we did possess and started every day giving Hex time to explore, have fun, and feel comfortable in the new environment. This extended to playing games and running through commands to relay the crag is a safe and fun place for her.
SPECIFIC TRAINING
When training a dog it’s super important to focus on rewarding positive behaviours rather than punishing unwanted ones. In all cases we gradually built it up, starting with high reward treats inside the house, all the way to low reward treats at the crag. I’ll discuss a few key behaviours we trained for the crag:
- Recall: whilst we aren’t climbing we let Hex roam around and have fun, however this means she needs reliable recall. We use a whistle as it can cover more ground, allowing her more freedom and a better experience.
- Boulder pad etiquette: teaching the command “off” – if you’re having trouble pairing it with “up” was a game changer for us!
- Not barking: You don’t want to be the victim of the crag, so having a quiet dog is important. Whilst I can’t say we’re fully there, we’re using the approach of teaching “speak” in order to teach “quiet”
- Being tied up: staying calm whilst your lead is tied to an anchor is a skill – we made sure Hex could stay calm like this for long periods.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Whilst I could bore you with this topic for days, here a few last things I want to mention:
- Overall training is just as important, for example socialisation means other crag dogs aren’t an issue, and being comfortable in the car doesn’t restrict available crags.
- Start early; I appreciate not everyone has this option but if you do, introduce your dog to these environments as soon as possible (Hex went to the gym on day one of being cleared from vaccines). Dogs critical learning period is 4-16 weeks, meaning they’re most susceptible to positively learning new things at this time.
- Breed matters, make sure the breed of dog you chose can withstand being outside all day and can tackle the variety of terrains climbing encompasses.
- I guess I should also mention have fun!
Written by Tom and Lucie (with a little help from Hex) 🙂