Clean Run - May 2017 - 41

PRACTICALLY TRAINING:
One Jump
Two Jump
Revisited

By Sandy Rogers

When my dogs get a wire crossed in training, meaning they
don't seem to understand something I thought they knew
well, it rarely surprises me. When I am focusing hard on
teaching one thing, the very nature of that focus can and
often will "undo" or weaken another behavior. Sometimes
this happens for no other reason than you can't focus on
everything all the time; other times the new lesson is so different it causes the dog to question another aspect of his
training. Here are simple examples: if you are working on
tight turns, your dog's distance skills may weaken, or when
you are focusing on distance work, he will need some help
remembering how to work tightly with you.
When my dogs get a wire crossed,
I know which basic drill I need to
re-visit to straighten him out. Many
of these drills, what I call "back to
kindergarten" drills, are in my workbook, One Jump Two Jump. There is
also a DVD of the same name which
goes into more detail than the
workbook does (the workbook is
available as a PDF on the DVD). Both
are available through the Clean Run
store. I made that DVD many moons
ago, but the information is still good, solid training that can
benefit any dog. The cool part is that it is designed to be done
with only two jumps, so you don't need a lot of space to train.
Over the coming months I will be re-visiting the drills in the
workbook with you. I will tell you the object of the drill and
why you would need it in the first place as well as when and
why you may need to go back and review it. I will provide
you with additional training tips to what is in the workbook.
It will be ideal learning if you have a new dog or a dog that
you suspect has some training foundation holes (lessons
that were never learned) or some crossed wires (lessons that
the dog seems to have forgotten or is mixed up about).
May 17 | Clean Run

We will cover:
* J-A-C: Jump Around the Clock
* Lead-outs
* Anti-crossing drills (Don't Cross Me)
* Distance work
* Serpentine handling and training
* The seven turn cues (while we have many more turn
cues these days, these are the trusty tried and true ones)
* Turn cue combinations
* Decel (Don't Pass Me) drills
* 180 and 270 handling
* Dog Meets Jump: Introducing or re-introducing
the jump to the dog
I will update my thoughts on these drills in the articles and
encourage you to pursue the drills further if you are starting
agility with a new dog or having jumping issues (collection,
extension, or dropped bars).
This month, however, I want to talk about beginning jump
training.
I look at introducing the jump to the dog as a two-part task:
there are lessons about the stanchions and lessons about the
bars. The lessons are very different and the objective of the lessons needs to be remembered. The two lessons I want the dog
to learn will help prevent refusals down the road (the stanchion
work) and help prevent bar knocking (the bar work). Tackling
those two training elements is critical to having success down
the training/trialing road. Making these jobs important right off
the bat can save you lots of future heartache.
This work can benefit dogs of any age. It will get and
keep them in good physical shape. I continue the two jumping
exercises that follow with my dogs throughout their careers.
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - May 2017