Clean Run - September 2020 - 48

Once my puppy is four months of
age, and I have set a great foundation for learning and prepared
my puppy physically, I will then
start using one jump and a tunnel, but separate from one another. I train all of the skills necessary
on just one piece of equipment so
that when my puppy is approximately six months old, it is easy to
put some short sets together.
Watch tunnel video
The key word for starting to
train puppy agility sets is "short."
Typically, when I start combining more obstacles, I do not combine more than two or three at
a time, so that I can continue to
keep my rate of reward high and
create more confidence and value for agility. I can certainly complete a set of six to eight obstacles
since my puppy will have an understanding of the behaviors required, but I want to reward every
skill in the set, so I break it up a
lot with reward and play. I will reward all outcomes, even failures,
because failure is a result of the
training. If my puppy fails, that tells
me I need to go back and train
that particular skill some more, or
possibly in a different way to solidify understanding.
Watch straight line video
I rarely do a small set of six to
eight obstacles at even six months
of age, however. I really like to focus on skill-building. I will put a
six-obstacle set together maybe once a month. Primarily I will
use one or two obstacles so that I
may continue to skill-build. If you
have all of the pieces in place, you
can easily put the puzzle together
when the time is appropriate.
As my puppy matures, I will gradually add another obstacle to the
monthly sequences. By twelve
months of age, I will be able to

create a behavior chain of twelve
to fourteen obstacles with an incredibly high rate of success. Most
importantly, because I have taken
the time necessary to build a solid
foundation of skills, my puppy will
be happy and confident in the execution of any sequence I present.
Let's break it down and look at all
of the skills you can train with just
one jump. When you put this in
perspective, you can see that it's
not necessary to be sequencing a
puppy at four months of age when
you can be focusing on building
skills for future success:

· Wraps
· Serpentine position
· Recall to heel
· Front-side sends
· Backsides
· Reverse turn
· Front cross
· Rear cross
· Parallel path
· Lateral distance
· Lateral send
· Go
· Rights and lefts
· German cross
· Threadle cue
· Backside pull
· Forced front cross
· Ketschker turn

· Lead-outs
· Post turn
· Pull back
· Shoulder rotation or pull turn
· Slicing
· V-set
That is a list of 24 behaviors that
do not require more than one jump
to train the cue and proper form.
That will keep us very busy for the
puppy's first year of life.
Adding a tunnel to the one-jump
exercises would be the next step.
This will give you and the puppy
speed to proof the cues you have
been training. Without speed on
approach, you cannot replicate the
finished behavior. Set the tunnel at
various approach points. Put it in
a shape that will give you the best
advantage to get where you need
to be to cue the behavior in a timely manner. If you are not where
you need to be, do not try to complete the intended exercise, but
be sure to reward your puppy. Get
yourself in a better position for the
next attempt and try again.
Always reward and play with your
puppy even if you did not achieve
the exact result you were looking
for. Rewarding and play with all
results will continue to build your
puppy's confidence and speed
while preventing undue pressure
of performance. If I did not get
the result that I am looking for, I
change what I am doing to be sure
the next attempt achieves the behavior that I have been training.
The performance of correct behavior should be the responsibility of
the trainer, never the puppy.
When your puppy is around six
months of age, you will begin creating a puppy friendly combination. That means super simple, so
your puppy cannot fail. You can
increase the complexity as your
puppy grows in the certainty of

Clean Run | September 20

Clean Run - September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - September 2020