Clean Run - May 2013 - 39

TOY

Adding more distance to the
game makes it even harder
for the dog and he really has
to listen.

I put a toy in the four different places shown (an equal-value toy or food-in-toy reward may be necessary for dogs that may choose one toy over another). I make sure
the dog is ahead of me by holding his collar and getting him excited. When I release
him, I give the verbal directional command I want. I can quickly see the choice my
dog is going to make and I click and move forward to reinforce his choice and drive
him forward to the toy. For instance, when practicing the turn-around-the-wing commands, by the time the dog is finishing the turn back to me, I should already have rotated to face the reward and not still be facing the dog as he comes around the wing.
If your dog makes an incorrect choice, then stop moving forward and don’t click. The
dog may still go and take the toy. Don’t use any negatives if he does this. The fact that
you haven’t clicked or verbally praised your dog will be enough for him to realize it
wasn’t quite right—the last thing we want to do is to stop the dog from trying to
succeed. He won’t be deliberately making a mistake, he’s just learning. If you say No or
Ah-Ah or use any other verbal marker, he will stop driving forward ahead of you to try
it; much the same way that some dogs give up trying to enter the weaves on their own
and wait for the handler once they have been told No a few times when they done it
incorrectly. It’s much safer for the dog to just wait for the handler than drive ahead
and try things if he might get into trouble.You can also hold onto a toy and reward the
right choices, but this can make the dog look back if you aren’t prompt with the toy.

TOY

Here are more possibilities
to practice.

You can build on this game as shown in
Figure 7. The added distance involved
makes it even harder for the dog and he
really has to listen. You can even drive
the dog in a straight line to the last jump
and then give him a wing-wrap command and drive him back to the toy at
the start jump again. Don’t do a lead-out
since it won’t help your dog learn the
verbal commands if you are up there
with him showing him handling.
As your dog becomes more experienced you can try the alteration shown
in Figure 8.
I hope this series has inspired you to teach
your dog some new words while spending
quality time with your best friend. He will
love driving confidently ahead of you with
his new vocabulary in place! D

Dawn Weaver has been an agility trainer in the U.K. for over 25 years. She is a 7-time FCI World Team member and a 3-time IFCS World Team member. She has won many
gold medals with several different dogs and has won at Crufts in the large category with Ag Ch It’s Easy with a Beezy (Beardie-Border Collie cross). Dawn has won every
major British final in recent years. Her Poodle Ag Ch Piquant Painted Sunshine has the most championship tickets of any dog in Britain. She is also the only dog to have
won Olympia four years running and all the major Crufts finals. Ag Ch Tonring Just a Puzzle is the only Papillon in Britain to have become an agility champion and is the
2011 Crufts Singles winner. Dawn is the author of the training book, Knowledge Equals Speed! She also offers online video instruction at www.dawnweaveragility.com.
To contact Dawn, send email to info@dawnweaveragility.com.

May 13

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http://www.dawnweaveragility.com

Clean Run - May 2013

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