Clean Run - February 2016 - 12

Dogs need proofing on contacts for their entire careers; the job is never done, because in
course work they learn to associate positions and movements with their release words.
ously with your verbal release will become the release for the
dog, like throwing up your arm, moving from a stopped position, or even doing a front cross. I recommend either releasing
your dog from a standstill or while you are running. Do not be
in a stopped position and then make a sudden motion at the
same time that you say your release word. You are not releasing
yourself! Take notice if you are using any positional cues (stay,
sit, or stand) in "real life," but you are not always using a release
command. Your dog must have a thorough understanding of
the concept "always stay until released," in every scenario (not
just agility) to have reliable stopped contacts, not to mention a
reliable start line and table! Training a solid release response is
like training any other behavior; it needs to have criteria and
needs to be rewarded.
Quick release (for a stopped behavior): i s is when you release your dog instantly upon getting the correct criteria. For a
two-on/two-o , it would be when your dog's second front paw
touches the ground-not the rst paw, this is very important!
It is good to practice quick releases in training, but you must
balance quick releases with holding/sticking the dog on the
contacts and releasing at di erent intervals of time. For example, I o en train using a circle con guration of two or three
contacts. I will quick release each contact two or three times in
a row and then I will repeat the circle and hold all three contacts and reward the dog. It's important not to practice quick
releases until your dog is " uent" (has been proofed) with his
stopped contact job description.
Early release (for a stopped behavior): An early release is
when a handler gives the verbal cue for the stopped position
("Touch," "Target," etc.), but releases the dog using a verbal
release word ("OK", "Break," "Free," etc.) before the dog has nished performing his job, like when one paw (or toe) is in the
contact zone. Many folks do this with slower dogs to make up
time at trials. e trouble is that dogs nd this confusing; they
don't understand their job because it isn't concrete enough.
Using a lot of early releases can actually result in the dog going even slower or stopping early, trying to prompt you to give
the release word. If this happens to you, go back and spend the
time to teach a solid two-on/two-o . e easier it gets for the
dog, the better they understand the behavior, and the faster
they may go.
Hold/stick: i s means the dog is "holding" his position while
you are waiting a second or three to release him. I recommend
not looking at the hold as a break for you. It is important to
keep both your and your dog's adrenaline up while you are
holding him on the contact. Be exciting while you are "proofing." Remember, there are no "adrenaline breaks" in the ring at
the trial. I believe the regular adrenaline breaks while working
contacts in practice is why so many dogs struggle with being
accurate at the trials. eir brains can't handle the constant
adrenaline feed at the trials and as a result they make mistakes.
Proo�ng: For your dog to be able to perform his job every
time you ask in every scenario, he has to understand his job
12

very, very well. You will need to ask him if he understands
what you told him to do, even if other distracting things are
happening at the same time. While he is learning his job, you
need to make it easy for him to be successful. en you will
need to make it harder, just as you did when you taught him
the sit-stay command. A er all, the stopped contact is just another "stay." As you proof by tossing food and toys and running
past and fading o to the side, you will nd out how well your
dog understands to stay without you using your stay command.
You will also nd out if he has come to the conclusion that he
can only do the job with you in a certain position, like maybe
right next to the end of board where he should stop.
Dogs need proo ng on contacts for their entire careers; the job
is never done, because in course work they learn to associate
positions and movements with their release words. It is natural.
ey are not "blowing you o ," they are asking you questions. If
your dog is currently relying on you being right there and you
can out-run him all of the time, you may be able to be successful
without your dog having strong comprehension of the performance. But, you will have to know that you are "liable" to hold
up your end of the deal and always be in that position. Cutting
deals with dogs has to happen sometimes, just remember the
bargain you made every weekend when you are at the trial.

A Word on the Teeter
I only teach a stopped behavior on the teeter. Either stopped
with four on the board (little dogs, in general) or stopped with
a two-on/two-o . e only dog I have given a hall pass on this
is my Great Dane student. If you have a Great Dane or a dog
of that size, you can do a running teeter because the board hits
the ground pretty much immediately. Little dogs (under 12ish
pounds) must be taught to go all the way to the end of the
board and that will take real e ort and constant maintenance.
If the tiny dogs stop short on the board, it can hit them as they
jump o . When that happens, they can lose whatever love and
trust they may have had for the teeter. Most dogs over 12 to
15 pounds will bene t from a two-on/two-o performance on
the teeter. You will need to decide what an acceptable teeter is
for you. We trainers really want to see every dog driving to the
end of the board, 'cause it's faster and we think faster is better.
But you know what? If your dog doesn't have a perfect teeter
he will still Q, so if your training time is limited and you have
projects that are keeping you from your goals (like broken
start-line stays or completely missed contacts) you may want to
accept your acceptable teeter and just be sure it is safe over fast.
No, I did not say fast is not safe. I'm saying training fast can be
very time consuming, like by a lot.

A Word on Luring
If you have a fast dog and you are not so fast and you have decided that you need an independent contact performance and
have chosen a two-on/two-o performance, I recommend you
take the time to train it thoroughly. If you do not it, is likely
to plague you for the dog's entire career. at said, if life won't
Clean Run | February 16

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