Clean Run - April 2013 - 41

2

3

Begin to move in a bigger circle with the
puppy staying at your side. Reward with
soft treats as you move and stop often to
play with your puppy. Work on both sides,
with puppy on the outside of the circle.

to move forward. Be ready to reward
when the puppy’s head is lined up
with your leg. See Figure 2.
Stage 6: Adding speed. Once you
have your puppy moving slowly in bigger circles, you can add a little more
speed by jogging. Again, reward as the
puppy comes with you. If your puppy
moves ahead of you, just back up a bit
and start over. If your puppy lags behind, pat your leg and encourage him
to move forward. Be ready to reward
when the puppy’s head is lined up
with your leg.
Stage 7: Inside circles. In Stages 1-6
of this game, your puppy has always
been on the outside of the circle. Now
you will repeat Stages 1-5 of this game
with your puppy on the inside of the
circle. This requires the puppy to swing
his butt toward you. You can make it
easier for you and your puppy to do
this exercise by forming a tunnel into a
closed circle or an x-pen into a circular

Teach your puppy to respond to your
shoulder turns when he's on the inside of
the circle. You can use a round object such
as an x-pen or a curled tunnel to help your
puppy.

shape. See Figure 3. As preparation
for this stage, work on rear-end awareness; for example, teach your puppy to
keep his front feet on a small stool or
box while he turns in place (practice in
both directions).
Stage 8: Adding distractions. Once
your puppy loves the I Turn, You Turn!
game, add distractions, challenging
your puppy appropriately. Make a list
of distractions and rank them from low
(e.g., familiar dogs hanging out in the
same room) to high (e.g., outside an
agility ring). Work your puppy through
Stages 1-7 at all these distraction levels. Use high value rewards and keep
the reinforcement rate high. Tell your
puppy often how brilliant he is!
Game 2:
I Run, You Run!
Stages 1-3 of this game were described
in the previous article. In these recall
games, the puppy learned to chase

These games are designed
to be done in very short sets
with toy play or interactive
food play in between. This
ensures that your puppy
finds you and the games fun!
Don’t advance in the
stages of the games until
you have brilliant response
at each stage.

you to be rewarded at your side if you
slowed down or turned, and to drive
ahead of you when you keep running.
Keep working this skill and be sure to
vary your starting position.
Game 3:
I Stop, You Stop!
This game teaches your puppy brilliant
response to your deceleration. Stage 1
of this game (described in the previous
article) teaches your puppy to come
quickly to your side when you lead out
and are standing completely still. Don’t
move on to the next stages until your
puppy is giving you a quick stop at
your side.
Stage 2: Moving stop. Put your puppy
in a sit-stay. Lead out but keep moving
at a walking pace. Release your puppy
while still moving and then stop. Time
this so that your puppy chases you as
you move, but has time to stop when
you stop. Reward your puppy at your

take control…
Learn how to turn stress to conndence
and distraction to focus so that your
dog can work oﬀ leash reliably in either
stimulating or stressful situations

April 13

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Clean Run

41
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Clean Run - April 2013

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