Clean Run - September 2010 - 13

My younger Malinois Bright was quite tentative and fearful of the world in general and, in her early career, she had rock-solid stays. But as her enthusiasm for competing increased, she became more excited; she started shifting, lying down, standing, and dancing around on the start line once I left. I was very hesitant to correct her due to her soft and fearful nature, so instead I decided to work on stays in an environment where she was even more enthused than she was on the agility course. The pond was it. She is frantic to swim and retrieve from the water. We worked on stays there where I did not worry about dampening her enthusiasm, just maintaining my criteria. It was hard work but she finally understood if she wanted to swim or do agility, she had to live up to my expectations for a solid stay. And she has done so beautifully because the hard work we put in has carried over to the agility ring.

Reflect on and evaluate your start lines in the past 10 trials and be honest in deciding what aspects of your start need improvement. If you’re unsure whether you need to work on start lines, ask your friends. They have probably noticed where you have allowed good behavior to slide in the heat of competition. As an instructor, seeing a team run is worth a thousand words of explanation from a student who is working on start-line woes. When you watch your students, look for more than just the dog’s staying until released. Look for the dog’s willingness, eagerness, and burst of enthusiasm off the start. Look for the handler’s management of the dog’s space and attention while waiting in line, the time it takes for the setup, and the handler’s attitude toward the dog. Is either the dog or handler different than in class? More stimulated? More stressed? Sometimes bringing the handler’s attention to the discrepancies between training and trialing behavior can be very helpful and informative.

Eager, Attentive, and Compliant
These are the three most important aspects of a successful start. A dog that is eager to run with you bursts off the start line when asked. A dog that is attentive is not distracted by the dog on course or the excitement of the dogs outside the ring. And a dog that is compliant will willingly sit, down, stand, stay, or run without giving you a struggle. Teach your dog how very rewarding it can be for him to remain attentive to you despite other dogs working or playing nearby. Teach the dog it is to his benefit to walk on a loose lead into the midst of a trial. In practice and run-throughs, reward heavily when the dog walks confidently to the first obstacle, sits quickly, and allows you to take the leash on and off without rising or moving anxiously. Watch a typical Novice class at the next trial, specifically the dogs that enter the ring dragging the handler. Their attention is divided, the handlers struggle to get a sit, and often have to repeat commands for the dog to allow them to take the lead in the run. Then watch an Excellent-level course. Notice the correlation between eager, attentive, and compliant starts and successful runs.

September 10 | Clean Run

http://www.thehonestkitchen.com http://www.thehonestkitchen.com

Clean Run - September 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - September 2010