While the Cat’s Away

Okay, I’m soon out the door for a lovely judging romp in Kansas. I will try to behave myself and not share with anyone how disappointed I have been this year about Mizzou’s performance on the gridiron (especially against Texas).

There are really a variety of sequences that might be made of this set of the floor (all based on our league play game… 4-Leaf Clover). We have both the Hobday box and a nice four-jump pinwheel so that we may understand the implications of the arrangement of the obstacles.

Think Outside the Box

We have other obstacles on the floor so should be limited to the jumping sequence at center. In this exercise I’d love to see the practice of a layered Tandem in the turn to the A-frame.

There’s also a great opportunity to layer to the opposite side of the pipe tunnel while the dog works away over jump #6. Frankly, if the handler doesn’t layer the pipe tunnel it seems unlikely that the handler can avoid driving the dog up onto the wrong-course dogwalk without actually layering to the opposite side of the pipe tunnel.

OOP

This is a really simple exercise to underscore the importance of the handler’s path. The blue line in this illustration shows exactly how far the handler should advance beyond jump #2 before committing to a Front Cross. Anything earlier will make it terribly difficult for the handler to set a line of approach on to jump #4.

270

In this simple sequence the handler is faced with a 270° turn followed by a four jump pinwheel without an implicit change of sides. The theme for practice in a sequence like this is to find a way to give robust movement to the dog. In our discussion of this sequence in camp we found a way to improve the time of dogs by 2 to 3 seconds (yes… 2 to 3 seconds in a simple 9 obstacle jumping sequence). It’s  hard to shake the conservatism out of most handlers—to move them out of the realm of the obvious to the realm of the possible—without actually timing the performance and showing them the stopwatch.

For a bit we experimented with using a Tandem Turn to accelerate the dog through the turn from jump #2 through the 270 to jump #3. It did a great job accelerating the dog and actually delivered better times than the default handling plan (stick-in-the-mud dog on left all the way). But, we found that the Tandem really created to robust a path for dogs.

Ultimately we settled on the BLT to both accelerate the turn and keep the dog’s path to a neat and manageable size. The BLT (Blind & Tandem combination) is unique among agility movements as it represents a combination movement that requires a speed change (slow to fast dog) between the two elements.

Fine Tuning

Straight away everybody will pretty much see that this sequence will require fast dog handling (behind and pushing). And so the exercise should immediately become how to conduct a Post & Tandem presentation to solve the counter-side tunnel discrimination. In camp I gave a lot of discussion to using the static Post to precue the handler’s intention to make the turn.

And after perfecting the fast dog handling option I pointed out to my campers that the necessity to do fast dog handling was a complete illusion, and that they would improve both time and performance by switching to an energetic slow dog handling plan. So we practiced the Flip. I’m always amazed by how such a technical and contrary movement can be mastered in only one or two practice tries.

Thinking Inside the Box

The most obvious and immediate challenge in this sequence is the blind approach to jump #4. I’m afraid it’s followed by a very technical jumping sequence to get to the weave poles at #7 which should challenge most handlers to adequately solve the “riddle of sides”.

It might be fun in this sequence to challenge handlers to send their dogs to the performance of the weave poles from inside the box. Of course the #11 weave poles will be slightly more challenging as most dogs are more likely to miss the nearly perpendicular approach entry when faced with the entry side of the poles.

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston: BudHouston@hughes.net. And Check out my latest publication the Just For Fun Agility Notebook #30 available on the Country Dream Web Store.

Last Camp

I’ve been a bit quiet I suppose. We’re entertaining the last agility camp of the year here at Country Dream. And today was the conclusion of the third day, of four. It’s a private camp attended by several women from Western Maryland and their dogs.

For me life is about to get very interesting. On the morning after this camp ends I’ll head for Kansas City where I have a three-day USDAA judging assignment. I’ll return home for one day, and then fly to Jacksonville, FL for to judge a USDAA trial there. Now as it happens, I have to go to Okalahoma after Florida… and I don’t so much as have time to return home. So from Jacksonville I’ll fly to Dallas… and drive up into Okalahoma. There I’ll be attending a four-day NADAC judging clinic, followed by a three-day trial for judging under supervision.

I’ll be home again about the 4^th of December, or so.

League Play This Week

This game is Four Leaf Clover – Dealer’s Choice variation.  All dogs will have 50 seconds to perform. Note that the dog starts and stops on the table. It is the handler’s job to draw the dog into the box at center and then perform each of the “leaves” of the clover – you’ll note that two of them are simply pipe tunnels at the corners of the box; one is a pinwheel; and one is a set of weave poles.

“Dealer’s Choice” means that the handler can solve the four different leaves of the clover in the order and direction of his own choosing. There might very well be in this sequence an optimal strategy for order and direction.

Four Leaf Clover is scored Time Plus Faults Less Bonus. Bonuses are earned when the handler sends the dog out of the box to perform the obstacles outside of the box. The pipe tunnels are worth 5 points; the pinwheel and the weave poles are worth 10 points; and the table both as a recall at the start and a send at the finish is worth 5 points.

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston: BudHouston@hughes.net. And Check out my latest publication the Just For Fun Agility Notebook #30 available on the Country Dream Web Store.

 

The Sit Stay

Okay I got this note in email. I’ll keep the sender private, but it’s a fun note, nonetheless. I figure since I’m going to sit down and give a thoughtful answer, I’ll call it work for my blog too.

“In the seminar that you gave in Chatham, IL in Sept. you talked about the sit at the start line.  I wasn’t at that seminar so I don’t know what was said.  One of the participants in the seminar is now saying that you said that a sit at the start line is not good.  I’m pretty sure what you actually said but I would sure like you to put it in writing so I can read it to my class. Any help would be ‘Greatly’ appreciated.”

This seems like a good place to put it in writing. But I’m not completely sure what the person quoting me was trying to say that I said. You know how it is about being quoted! Anyhow…

Is it a question of whether I like a sit? Well, it’s true that a stand-stay at the start-line allows the dog to begin faster than any other position; so the handler should opt for a stand-stay rather than a sit-stay. I could probably demonstrate this with 9 out of 10 dogs (providing a dog has ever learned a stand-stay.)

Also, the dog may start with less enthusiasm when doing any kind of stay at the start-line while the handler leads out; and it may take the dog awhile before getting up to working speed. This is probably true maybe 1 out of 10 or more dogs in agility. If I recognize this in a dog and handler team, I’ll advise that handler never to do a lead-out unless faced with a dire technical challenge downfield.

Only about one in three courses demands a lead-out at all… and yet 90% of handlers will take a lead-out on 100% of courses whether the course demands a lead-out or not. It’s rather like the gent who wears belt and suspenders… just a little insecurity about losing his drawers.

And I believe that—as executed—the lead-out is a poor tool for a lot of agility enthusiasts. Often it is just plain lazy; And just as often the handler doesn’t understand how to do his job when releasing the dog from the stay.

Does that sound like I don’t like a sit stay? Sorry.

Start-Line Foundation

Absolutely, start-line stays are an important part of the start-line foundation. I would be nuts to suggest otherwise. But it’s not the only item on the list.

The well-rounded student of the game should be treated to a wide variety of topics in the exploration of the start-line foundation. Here’s a list for you:

• Getting the dog excited and connected at the line
• Taking a Sit-stay lead-out
• Taking a Down-stay lead-out
• Taking a Stand-stay lead-out
• Finding your dog’s fastest start
• Measuring the dog’s best approach distance to the opening jump
• Finding the opening line (squaring your dog to the course)
• Taking a Sling-shot start
• Taking a lateral-path lead-out
• Measuring the adequacy of a lead-out
• Determining when a lead-out is necessary

Illustration?

I really couldn’t resist drawing a picture for the discussion. There’s no way I can approach the entire Start-Line Foundation in one discussion. This is one illustration for a discussion of measuring the adequacy of a lead-out (one item in the list).

Note in the illustration a long line of three hurdles introduced into a four-jump pinwheel out of which the dog dismounts in a wrapping turn into the weave poles. Is that a fair description?

The red figures of the handler represent a flawed lead-out. The handler leads out so far that he can’t possibly move well. And further, the handler has fundamentally missed the fact that going into the pinwheel he doesn’t want to be ahead of the dog, he wants to be behind. I know this sounds a little backwards… but just think about it. The farther ahead the dog gets into the pinwheel the farther ahead is the handler when it closes. And the handler wants to be ahead in order to be in position for the tricky turn out of the pinwheel and into the weave poles.

Note that the blue figures represent a rational lead-out in this sequence. The first one (the one nearer to jump #1) is probably where I would lead out for my girl hazard… who jumps 8”. The blue figure is where I might begin with… oh, the fastest dog on the planet. Remember, I want him to get ahead.

The green figures, by the way, represent my lead-out range if I were to enter the pinwheel from the tandem position. Note that it’s slightly forward of the blue figures because… to do the Tandem entering the pinwheel the must arrive at jump #4 at precisely the same instant as the dog… which requires more of a lead-out. Frankly I probably would not attack the pinwheel from the Tandem position because the Tandem is an accelerating movement. The problem with accelerating the dog is that this pinwheel features two wrong-course options and… there’s still the niggling problem of the handler being forward of the dog for the turn after jump #7.

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston: BudHouston@hughes.net. And Check out my latest publication the Just For Fun Agility Notebook #30 available on the Country Dream Web Store.

A League of Your Own

The agility league is designed to organize match play and let people compete as part of a team. Prices are kept very low to encourage participation by large and diverse groups of students. For example, we charge $5 a dog for league play out of this we pay recording fees and registration for the league (to C-WAGS and USDAA, for example).

Back in the day when we ran Dogwood, our leagues were made up of 95-120 dogs in any two-month session; running 25-30 teams of three dogs each. Now, in this rural part of Ohio where we’ve moved in semi-retirement, we’ll be lucky to have 15 dogs a week running in league. We will not be running a team league here… all MVP (most valuable puppy).

The JFF Community

There’s a Yahoo list where we’ll be posting weekly games and courses: JFFAgility-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Just so you know, you can play the game at your facility any time you like and, if you send me your results, I’ll put it all into a permanent listing associated with the game or course. [In other words... the original game might have been in Nov '09... and you could play it in Mar '10. No worries.]

I’ve worked with C-WAGS for more than a year to establish a community-based recreational approach to the game. The CCAP is pretty much the result of that effort. Check http://c-wags.org/ for more information. And you can find information about the USDAA’s league play at http://www.usdaa.com/.

Picking a game

We use the Clean Run book of Agility Games as our league play-book; and refer often to the JFF Agility Notebook (over five years of league play games and lesson plans nested for four levels of instruction). You can choose a completely different game. Our games are designed to minimize equipment movement between the game and your class instruction.

And, of course, I’ll be publishing a new game or course just about every week in conjunction with our local agility league. I’m hoping too that other clubs who have designed their own games or courses (sometimes for unique competition spaces) will also publish their courses and games to the JFF list on Yahoo so that others might be able to use their courses and play their games.

Scoring

We’ll do this through the week on a ledger system. Create columns for “points,” “faults,” time,” as well as team placements. As dogs run the Game of the Week, record the data in the appropriate column. Each week’s game will involve the collection of different data. For example, Snooker is scored “points, then time.” Timed Gamblers is scored “time, plus faults,” etc.

With all the scores assembled determine placements using these accumulated totals. For MVP standings, the first place team earns 10 points; the second place team earns 9 points; the third place team earns 8 points… and so forth, all the way down to ten place, which earns 1 point. All other teams earn a zero for the week.

As the league session progresses, team scores are totaled, earning overall placements at the end of the scoring period.

Simul-match

We’re working to coordinate competition with a other leagues and training centers around the country (or the world); in which we can pit our performance against the performance of dogs from another league.

What we’ll attempt to do on the JFF list on Yahoo is post our ongoing games and standard courses. If another training center runs that game or course, they can send their results to me for posting. So aside from having our own local league results we’ll have results that reflect (kind of tongue in cheek) a national or world-wide placement on the same game our course. I haven’t completely figured out the logistics of this yet. But I’m working on it.

Final Analysis

This sounds very involved and time-consuming. But the benefits far outweigh your efforts. Back at Dogwood we noticed a marked increase in attendance (people might miss their class, but they’d never let their team down by missing league play), and a wonderful sense of community built around league teams.

If dog agility is to remain a game we play with our dogs and our friends, we first want to shift the focus away from the infrequent and costly qualifying attempt to a light-hearted and weekly romp in the park. As well as being just plain fun, it can also serve to strengthen our relationship with our dogs. As we lighten up and get more chances to play the game, our mood lifts, our nerves settle, and our dogs are seen having a much better time.

FAQ

“Sounds great!! Does the dog need to be registered under USDAA or CCAP to participate?”

Not at all. Here at Country Dream we will seek affiliation with organizations that support league play, partly to acknowledge their leadership in providing an inexpensive recreational approach to the game; and partly to titling opportunities and recognition of performance from these organizations. If you want to play the game from the cheap seats we are fine with that. Make sure that you pass on the less expensive accommodation to your local agility community.

“This sounds like great fun. Could we play on TDAA equipment?”

The whole idea of league play is that local clubs can get ready for competition in their own favorite venues. So whether your club is chiefly NADAC, or USDAA, or AKC… or even TDAA you should use your league play to get ready for that venue. Of course most venues outside of TDAA won’t be particularly interested in the wide variety of the games that we’ll play in league (you know how anything but follow-the-numbers makes an AKC player’s head explode).

A thing I learned very long ago… all games are training games. It is mistaken to believe that a player who mostly wants to learn to master the numbered course has nothing to learn from games like Tag 10 and Who Dares Wins.

Oh… so the answer to your question is: Sure, you can use TDAA equipment. It strikes me that if you change the equipment (and maybe even spacing) on a league course we’ll have to put an asterisk next to your dogs’ results when we post the national or world-wide results for the game or course.

“How does league play benefit the host club? I’m not sure I get that. It sounds like a lot of work“

Well, it certainly is a bit of work. But it’s good work. It is first of all profitable; but in a way that is casually inexpensive for the player. You don’t have to rent a facility or hire a judge. And if you do it right your students will run their league play game in conjunction with class. So for them there are no additional travel expenses.

One of the great values we’ve always found in league play is that you can see how your students are translating your teaching when they are put under the pressure of competition. It is one thing to lah de dah around a training sequence; but it’s quite another when they are being scored and put under the stopwatch. Rather than chasing your students around the region to see how they do in competition in their various venues, you can see them right in your own training center. That will give you valuable input as to where your teaching needs to go with them.

“I would like more info about the requirements for clubs to participate in the league.  Among other things, I am wondering if our facility has the necessary space as it is long and narrow. It sounds like a lot of fun.”

Obviously, you won’t be able to put up the same courses and games that people with bigger and squarer floor space can put up. However, the whole intention of this is to use the resources that we have at our disposal. What I would recommend is that you adapt a course or a game to your space, and then post it to the JFF list so that anyone with a comparable space could put up the same game or course.

The only real requirement is that you join the community and share your results. While I would like to see clubs register with and support C-WAGS (CCAP) and the USDAA… even this is not a requirement.

A Great Dog Trainer’s Resource!

Someone sent me this great link: http://www.veterinarytechnicianschoolsonline.com/?page_id=37

This site is complete with YouTube videos for teaching your dog a variety of tricks. I’m a great advocate of trick training because it builds on the training relationship between the dog and handler. For instructors this is certainly an invaluable resource. One of the things an instructor needs to do is teach his or her students how to train a dog. It would be very nice to point them to a good teaching web-site… and maybe even making an assignment for teaching one of the tricks or skills.

Surfing

http://www.teamidemise.com/

http://canarypapers.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/idolatry-of-lesser-gods-bogeymen-and-heroes-in-the-bush-age/

Common Sense

Every man becomes civilized between the ages of 18 and 25. If he does not go through a civilizing experience at that time of his life, he will not become a civilized man. The men who went to war at 18 missed the civilizing. All you young people who served in the war are a lost generation. You have no respect for anything.
~ Gertrude Stein

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston: BudHouston@hughes.net. And Check out my latest publication the Just For Fun Agility Notebook #30 available on the Country Dream Web Store.

Figure of Eights ~ Compulsory Exercise

This is a thing I call the “Figure of Eight”. I set two cones out on the floor and ask simply that the handler draw the dog in a figure of eight pattern around the two cones, giving the dog a constant stream of rewards (treats) out of his lead hand for attention to the lead-hand.

Note that the agility Figure-of-Eight is decidedly different from the obedience Figure-of-Eight. In agility the handler will take the lazy inside path while the dog takes the more robust outer path. That means that the handler must Cross going into the center of the “eight” to get the dog on the opposite side as he goes the opposite direction.

This is an important exercise for many handlers, because many have not taught their dogs to give their lead hands close focus in tight technical moments on the course. While I like a dog that will work away on fast and flowing sequences; when things get tight and technical I really like when the dog understands how to come in close to get his direction from a control point.

The handler learns several important lessons in this exercise. Aside from the fact that handler and dog must master movement in one of the most complicated character patterns in western civilization (the “eight”); it is implicit that the movement that conducts the dog through the center of the crossing pattern be a Front Cross. Also, you’ll find handlers who will drop their connection with the dog on the outside curves of the “eight”… allowing me, as the instructor, to teach a discipline that is fundamental to the exercise: It is not the dog’s job to attend the lead, it is the handler’s job. Once the handler understands that this is his job he will put in the modest effort required to keep the connection with his dog.

The purpose of the Figure of Eights exercise is to teach the dog to work in tight handler focus without regard to agility equipment which might be set near. And so we transfer the skill to the floor where we’ve carved out enough free space to conduct the figure-of-eight movement.

Note that the attitude of the handler’s arm is the chief cue to the dog whether to be in handler focus or obstacle focus. When the arm is down and close to the body or leg then the dog should be attentive to the handler. When the arm lifts the dog should be pushed to obstacle focus and away from the handler.

I’ll share my more comprehensive discussion of the “attitude of arms” below… and follow that with the escalation of the figure of eights compulsory exercise.

Arms and the Object of Focus

In our discussion of the matter of the dog’s focus I don’t believe I have for awhile talked through how we use our arms to communicate simple information.  This is a simple system based on the dog’s natural inclinations and understanding of our movement and habits.

The “attitude” of the arm refers to the height of the lifted arm and the degree of the angle created by the lift. A high attitude is at shoulder height; a low attitude is against the pant leg.

As the handler runs lifting the arm and pointing forward is a basic cue for the dog to stay in obstacle focus and, frankly, constitutes permission to work at a considerable distance. Don’t get me wrong here. The arm is not the primary cue. Consider it a detail and confirmation of the more abiding cues (running, for example is the most important cue).

Note that the arm stays arrow-straight and points on in the direction the dog is to move if not directly at the obstacle the dog should move to.

Now the handler slowing down, presumably in anticipation of a turn draws his arm down so that the hand is about belt level. However the arm stands out away from the body. The arm remains arrow-straight and points directly at the obstacle the dog is next to perform.

Again we ask for the dog to be in obstacle focus. But clearly we’re giving other cues. Indeed the dog might take a little steam out of his movement in response to the handlers braking movement.

To draw the dog into tight handler focus the lead hand should drop flush against the handler’s body. When conducting a tight movement in redirecting the dog we want the dog watching us closely. Now the lead hand probably becomes the predominate cue.

Putting it all Together ~ Escalating the Exercise

It would be good now to test the premise that the attitude of the handler’s arm is significant language to the dog so that the handler can either wrap him tightly or send him on flight over agility obstacles. As it happens the floor is set very nicely for this adventure.

Note that out of the Figure of Eight the handler will abruptly raise his or her arm to signal the dog ahead into the three-jump pinwheel. Note that the arm up is a cue to the dog… but certainly not the only cue. It will be the instructor’s job to ensure that the handler understands is job in terms of movement and giving good focus to the work ahead.

This foundation training introduces another important foundation exercise, and an escalation of this work, which I will share with you tomorrow.

Susan Garrett’s 2×2 DVD

I had the pleasure to get a look at Susan’s very nicely crafted 2×2 Weave Pole training DVD. I shall certainly use her method to train my boy Kory in the Weave Poles… but I’m waiting until he’s a year old before we even think about weave poles.

Anyhow, I want to share with you an observation. In the video is a segment showing her IFCS Snooker win with Encore. Anyone watching the performance was probably completely engrossed in the astounding performance Encore gave her in the weave poles… working at full speed, attacking the poles from improbable approaches, and making controlled entries to the poles.

Sure, this was impressive stuff. But there was something that I saw that might not be completely evident to the casual viewer. You know that in Snooker it’s sometimes important and necessary to draw a dog past obstacles without actually performing them. That’s something quite difficult with a very advanced and obstacle focused dog. But note what Susan did. As she ran across the field her arm was down flat against her leg (low arm is handler focus… remember) and her dog ran with her completely ignoring the obstacles that they ran past. And then, as soon as her dog slid past the last possible wrong obstacle on the way to the weave poles Susan would lift her hand (high attitude is obstacle focus… remember), and Encore would immediately attack the poles, get in, and go through.

To my thinking this was as much an exhibition in understanding the language of the attitude of the arm in communicating with the dog as it was an exhibition in magnificent weave pole performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I97topvBqvQ

League Play Game

This course will be our League game this week. I’ll have more discussion on running an agility league over the next couple of weeks.

Movies

I saw Roshomon last evening. It’s the story of a crime told from the viewpoint of four different people. It leaves you not knowing the truth…

It strikes me that Western movies have very specific rules for both plot development and characterization that aren’t really recognized at all by Japanese film, or at least Akira Kurosawa. And so Rashomon has for me a dream-like quality… but a gritty, unsettling dream.

Akira Kurosawa

Surfing

http://www.orkinphoto.com/index.php

http://raencloud.com/tagged/wonderland

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston: BudHouston@hughes.net. And Check out my latest publication the Just For Fun Agility Notebook #30 available on the Country Dream Web Store.

Houston’s Table Training Protocol

Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense. ~ Gertrude Stein

One of the obstacles most likely to drag on the overall performance in agility competition is the table. While the table should essentially be considered a 5‑second performance, in truth the performance sometimes takes much longer than five seconds and may result in a Non Qualifying score because of time wasted or performance faults.

Difficulty with the table performance is typically a training issue. As in many performances trouble at the table is caused by not understanding the element of the table performance to which the dog’s trainer’s attention should be applied. Like many performance training puzzles in dog agility, we can achieve better results if the basic statement of training objective has been posed with sufficient granularity.

Five Elements for Training the Table Performance

In the table below lists five distinct elements for training the table performance.

1^st Element ~ The approach

Desired performance – The very first task in the training of the table is to make the dog keen not only to get up on the table, but to seek it out. When the handler cues the table the dog should move unwaveringly to the table, without having to be led there by the handler, and promptly get up onto the obstacle.

Problem Indicators – The dog will bypass the table as though it does not exist; or, will go sniffing or wandering off, finding almost anything more interesting than the approach to the table.

Training Remedy –This is accomplished this in a very basic way… the dog is lavishly rewarded for getting on the table when directed to do so. Repeat this over and over again.

Proofing – The handler should allow the dog to seek out the table without being led there. Even in the early steps this should be a progressive sending exercise. The training task is complete when the dog keenly drives to the table without overt manipulation or coaxing by the handler.

Notes – Avoid making the table a place where momma gets mental! Never create a negative association with the table (or any agility obstacle).

2^nd Element ~ Attention to the handler

Desired performance – When the dog gets onto the table he gives immediate attention to the handler in anticipation of the next instruction.

Problem Indicators – After getting onto the table the dog will sniff or stare off into space for long moments; or may dismount the table to go wandering off as though on a break.

Training Remedy –The handler puts dog on the table and simply waits until the dog makes eye contact, whereupon the dog immediately gets praise and reward. Repeat this over and over again.

Proofing – The training task is complete when the dog is keen to the game and tends to whirl about to give attention to his handler every time he gets onto the table.

Notes – Avoid any kind of obedience performance while charging the attention step. An obedience performance is very poor reward for attention.

3^rd Element ~ Assuming the position

Desired performance – When the handler cues the performance the dog quickly assumes the correct position.

Problem Indicators – The dog does not assume the correct position, will give play bows when the handler asks for a down, or will lie down when the handler asks for a sit; or the handler must hover over the dog, repeating a command or making extreme gestures to get the dog into position.

Training Remedy – When teaching a down the trainer places a bit of food in his fist and drops the fist to the table, giving the command to “lie down!” When the dog gets into a down position the trainer immediately opens his fist to allow the dog to take the treat. When teaching a sit the trainer places a bit of food in his fist and rocks it past the dog’s ear, giving the command to “sit!” When the dog sits the trainer immediately opens his fist to allow the dog to take the treat. In these simple training steps is that the dog will quickly learn the game and will endeavor to teach the handler to open his fist promptly! The dog’s trainer must transition from lure to reward as soon as possible. That means the trainer stops holding a bit of food in his hand and will instead rely on praise and reward to make the training point. When the trainer makes the transition to simple reward he should also work to put distance between himself and the dog and vary his position when giving the dog the command to assume an obedience position.

Proofing – The training task is complete when the dog readily and quickly assumes the correct obedience position when cued to do so by the handler without regards to the handler’s proximity.

Notes – Avoid harsh and aversive obedience training methods. Avoid two-part performances; in other words, if the performance is a “down” the handler should not ask the dog to sit first, and then lie down. If the dog competes in a venue that requires only a down the training steps should contemplate a seamless performance in which the dog gets up onto the table and lies down.

4^th Element ~ Maintaining the position

Desired performance – The dog will remain in the required obedience position for however long the handler demands without the handler repeating the command and whether or not the handler changes his own position (or otherwise twitches) during the performance.

Problem Indicators – The dog breaks the position without cue from the handler; or the dog will hold the position until the handler shows the slightest movement requiring the handler to hover suspiciously over the dog without twitching through the entire performance

Training Remedy –A “stay” command is incorporated into the performance after the dog has actually learned to assume the required position. Note that this training can be given to the dog away from the table. Consider this method… make the training a meal-time task. The trainer puts the dog on one side, and his food dish on the other. After putting him in his obedience position the trainer will give the command to “stay!” While the dog stays the trainer till reach across his body, taking one kibble at a time to give to the dog. If the dog breaks the position, the trainer will put the kibble back in the bowl, and place the dog back into position. The dog quickly learns that he must work for his meal. As the training progresses the bowl will be placed at greater and greater distances so that the dog must wait while the trainer moves back and forth between himself and the food bowl. Again, if the dog breaks position the handler will very casually put the food back into the bowl and return to the dog to put him back in position. It shouldn’t take too long before the trainer is shuttling the dog’s food a kibble at a time from one side of the room to the other while the dog patiently waits (works) for his food.

Proofing – The training task is complete when the dog the dog consistently maintains the required obedience position while the handler moves in any direction and to any distance.

Notes – In general the trainer should avoid repeating an obedience command. It’s okay to give the command to “stay” in an authoritative voice; however, the command should not be harsh or strident. The correction for a dog breaking his stay should be neutral, and matter-of-fact. The true correction for the dog is the small detail that he earned neither praise nor reward.

5^th Element ~ The release

Desired performance – The dog immediately dismounts the table—with energy and enthusiasm—when given a release cue by his handler.

Problem Indicators – After being given a release cue the dog continues to languish upon the table or leaves the table listlessly, with low-energy.

Training Remedy –If dog is keen for a game with a toy, the toy might be a better reward in this training step than food. During the table count the trainer wants to build up a tension and expectation in the dog… a bit of electricity for the release. Play a game of “Ready! Set! Go!” … releasing the dog on the “Go!” word. Immediately whoop & holler and give the dog a game with the toy. If the dog breaks position in his anticipation with for the game, make the correction quite neutral, simply returning to dog to his position on the table to retry the training step.

Proofing – The training task is done when the dog consistently dismounts the table full of energy and excitement.

Notes – The release from the table should be a verbal cue.

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston: BudHouston@hughes.net. And Check out my latest publication the Just For Fun Agility Notebook #30 available on the Country Dream Web Store.

Blithe Spirit!

training plan 11-08-09

In the first six exercises we’re practicing a pre-cue Front Cross that will have the benefit of a lead-out from the table. There’s nothing like getting a lot of reps with a movement to make it settle into muscle memory. Note that each of the sequences have different conclusions that have their own implicit riddles.

Exercise 1

The exercise begins, presumably, with a pre-cue Front Cross from jump #3 to jump #4. It finishes up with a nice roll around the outside with dog on right. For my advanced students I’ll ask them to send to the pipe tunnel at #6 layering to the opposite side of the dummy jump in order to meet the dog on the downside of the dogwalk.

Exercise 2

Out of the pre-cue Front Cross the handler will draw the dog through the three-jump pinwheel (avoiding the tunnel taken previously) pushing a nice tight line to the pipe tunnel at #7. Of course the handler has to layer to the opposite side of the dogwalk while the dog gets out to jump #8.

Exercise 3

Out of the pre-cue Front Cross the handler will push the dog on to the pipe tunnel at #5. This moment might require a tandem if the dog elects to turn hard left after jump #4. The exercise ends with a very tricky approach to the weave poles at #8. The looming wrong-course tunnel under the dogwalk should not be discounted.

Exercise 4

Now we take the pre-cue Front Cross in the opposite direction. This should go nice and easy as the handler puts the dog into the pipe tunnel at #5 and can finish either with dog-on-left or dog-on-right.

Exercise 5

Out of the pre-cue­ Front Cross the handler is faced with a bit of a technical challenge, through the pinwheel to a blind approach to jump #7. This might be best accomplished with a Front Cross so that the handler can control the corner of approach to jump #7 with a well directed line that carries the dog neatly through jump #8; that would also put the handler on the side of the turn to the dogwalk.

Exercise 6

Out of the pre-cue Front Cross the handler must draw the dog sharply back to the opposite entry to the pipe tunnel lat #5; and then needs to set up to present jump #6 and get the dog turned into the pipe tunnel at #7. This gives us another opportunity to practice the layered approach to jump #8 coming out of the tunnel.

Exercise 7

At last we’re  done with the pre-cue Front Cross. This exercise starts off with a layered send to the pipe tunnel at #3. The handler will have to set up for a dop-on-right approach to the weave poles at #4. The really interesting moment in the sequence will be in the approach to jump #7. The handler needs to pull the dog past the dummy jump after jump #6 while creating an approach to jump #7.

Exercise 8

This exercise has the flavor of a previous exercise. After a relatively simple start through the first four obstacles, the handler is faced with setting up a line of approach to jumps #6 and #7. This time we’d like the handler (if possible) keep dog on left to set the line, using a Tandem after jump #7 to turn the dog away to the dogwalk at #8.

Exercise 9

Again we have the blind-approach pull-through to jump #4. This time the approach is from the opposite side. Part of the riddle is certainly going to be how to get the dog on left to influence the dog to the right and set up the approach. After jump #4 the handler is faced with getting the dog into the opposite-end of the tunnel… and not the obvious and more compelling end.

Exercise 10

If we actually get to this last exercise… consider that the turn after jump #5 begs for a pull through to avoid the wrong course straight ahead in the dog’s path. This would be a marvelous time to use a pre-cue Front Cross to give the dog a fair opportunity to make the turn

Quoth

Hail to thee, blithe spirit!

Bird thou never wert-

That from heaven or near it

Pourest thy full heart

In profuse strains of unpremeditated art.

– Shelley, “To a Skylark”

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston: BudHouston@hughes.net. And Check out my latest publication the Just For Fun Agility Notebook #30 available on the Country Dream Web Store.

There is No such Thing as a Free Mule

Okay, I’m working on the suite of agility compulsories. Here’s a simple one… unless you’re the one in the box doing it. I’ll try to go through the entire list. A lot of it is in my archives. Some I’ll have to write new.

Today I have to be down at the Tractor Supply Co. holding down a table for the “Farm Animals” community show. Thank god I live in a part of the country where dogs are still considered farm animals. Anyhow, we’ll be handing out a few fliers… and doing foundation tricks with our pups Hazard and Kory. Maybe we’ll pick up a new student or two.

As a consequence of this obligation I’m writing today’s blog entry yesterday, or more precisely last night. Yes… I am writing this last night. But I will cleverly publish it in today to imbue it with the illusion of timely spontaneity.

At any rate the “Riddle of Two Jumps” is elementary to the kind of problem solving that the keen agility competitor does on just about any course we run in the game. We solve the puzzle backwards… downfield considerations always dictating our choice of handling movement.

Quoth

“Agility is not a game that can be won; it can only be played.”

– Bagger

A Riddle of Two Jumps

This is a small game based on a riddle. You will observe certain stipulations to solve the riddle:

-       Use two jumps only, spaced about 12’ apart.

-       The jumps can be taken only from the inside of the box, out.

-       No crossing behind the dog is allowed.

-       The entire course consists of only five jumps (that means one jump will be performed twice, the other three times).

-       The instructor will specify the direction of each turn.

Understand the instructions? Ready to go? Let’s play. First handler to solve each riddle wins. We’ll typically set this up with four or five stations of two jumps. A handler is allowed to move into one of the stations only when they think they have the riddle solved. They aren’t allowed to use the station to walk it through and fret the solution.

Here are four turning sequences for the dog.

1. Left-Left-Right-Left-Left
2. Right-Left-Right-Right-Left
3. Right-Right-Left-Left-Right
4. Right-Left-Right-Left-Left

I use this game for more than the problem solving riddle. I want to see how my students approach a jump with a turn after. The jump before a 180° turn is always in danger of being dropped if the handler isn’t careful. I contend that most dropped bars are not the fault of the dog, but of the handler[1].

The discipline of directing a dog to jump and directing the dog to turn is important. Let’s look at some of the important elements of this discipline that you should teach to your students.

a)     The handler should direct the dog by moving in the direction of the course; move in a smooth straight line to the jump, and work through commitment. That means that the handler should not go flat-footed and wave the dog to go on; the handler should not come to a stop, or turn, or otherwise cue the turn until the dog has committed over the jump. Don’t send the dog to the jump. Be a part of the team.

b)     When doing a 180° Front Cross on a jump the handler should take a tracking step out to the side of the jump before committing to the cross to redirect the dog. This movement tracks the dog out around the wing of the jump. If the handler just doubles back in a cross the actual instruction to the dog is to double-back and back-jump the jump just taken.

c)      When changing leads, it is the handler’s responsibility to call the dog’s attention to the new lead hand. The handler should not simply assume that the dog will appear on one side of him or the other just because he has his arm sticking out like the sign on the side of a school bus. It takes only a modest effort to connect with the dog and show the new lead. But it is a skill that must be cultivated and practiced. In a turn the lead hand should take on a “luring” quality.

d)     The handler should take responsibility for calling the dog’s attention to a turn, and for tightening that turn. The handler should not be an idle and silent spectator to a dog taking a wide and undirected turn. All of the handler’s cues should go into the turn. The handler needs to move in the turn, call the dog, and show the way with the lead hand.

The visual cue for beginning a turn is seeing the dog at the highest point in his jump. A well-timed turn can have the dog beginning his turn before he actually lands. If the handler cues the turn too early, the dog may change his feet in the air and drop the bar. If the handler cues the turn too late, the turn might be wide and time consuming. If you use the visual cue, you will never be too late for the cue, and you will never be too early.

The Riddle of Sides

One of the first and most abiding skills that the handler must learn is to answer the riddle of sides. The dog turns most naturally in the direction of the handler. So it is the handler’s job to figure out how to get position always on the turning side of the course.

What may seem trivial to the more experienced handler is an enigmatic riddle to the novice agility handler. In the sequence shown in this illustration the beginner is more than likely to get caught at jump #8 with dog on right, with no real answer for turning the dog in the direction of the side the dog is working. The turn goes away from the handler’s position if he approaches jump #8 with dog on right.

The more experienced handler works out the mechanics easily, seeing the opportunity to change sides to the dog during the performance of the pipe tunnel.

Changing sides to the dog is the basis of many handler “movements.” Changing sides would not be necessary if the handler is much quicker than the dog. The handler could work his dog on one side and just race through the long bits. This is not really a very practical solution. If the handler works the dog on his left (heel) side, the handler would have to run completely around the pipe tunnel. With dog on right the handler’s path from jump #8 to #9 would be over 30’ as the dog takes the lazy inside path, and the handler the much wider outside path.

We can establish early in our agility career that the handler should never run the long way around a U-shaped tunnel.

Indeed, neither of these handling path options is completely satisfying because, in fact, the dog tends to be considerably faster than the human member of the team. It is unlikely that we can outrun 98% of the dogs in this sport taking the long path.

So we have two rules now for the Riddle of Sides:

1. The handler should seek the side of the turn (because the dog turns most naturally in the direction of the handler.)
2. The handler should seek an economical path, as compared to the dog’s path (as most dogs tend to be faster than the handler.)

The next step in solving the Riddle of Sides has to be selection is a specific movement to solve the change of sides. In this first illustration the handler has the luxury of making the change of sides while the dog is engaged in the performance of the pipe tunnel. The handler makes the approach to the pipe tunnel with dog on right. When the dog exits the handler will be on the opposite side (dog on left.) This calls for a Crossing Turn, or a Blind Cross. The difference between the two is that in the Crossing Turn the handler rotates towards the dog to pick up on the opposite side. In a Blind Cross the handler rotates away from the dog (and in the direction of the course.)

It doesn’t take too much to make the riddle more complicated. For example, in the following drawing we use essentially the same set of obstacles, but have added another jump at the end of the serpentine sequence.

So in addition to solving the right turn following jump #8, the handler must solve the left turn following jump #9. He must be on the dog’s right, and he must be on the dog’s left.

This sounds as though the handler has to be two places at once. But that’s not really so.

The handler’s true mission is to figure out how to be ahead of the dog at each turn. You can’t cross in front of the dog if you’re behind the dog. That sounds like a statement of the obvious. But it is the crux of the Riddle, after all.

The sequence is solved by management of real estate. The handler has to get to position “H” by the time the dog is coming up over the bar at jump #8 (marked “D”.) The handler’s position forward of the dog and lateral (to the right) puts the handler ahead enough that again a Crossing Turn or a Blind Cross solves the final turn in the sequence.

What makes this sequence doable even for handlers of very fast dogs is the inclusion of the pipe tunnel. When the dog gets into the pipe tunnel the handler doesn’t have time to stand and admire his work. He has to quickly get on the opposite side of the tunnel’s exit and make for jump #8 at a speed that will get him to position “H” at precisely the instant the dog is getting to position “D.”

This sequence breaks down if the handler doesn’t observe simple handler discipline. It doesn’t pay to rush. The handler shouldn’t turn to jump #8 before the dog has committed to the pipe tunnel. That will, as often as not, earn the dog a refusal at the pipe tunnel. Refer to “Teaching Movement” in the Just for Agility Notebook, volume III, #19.

Olde Poem

“Remember, remember,
The Fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason, and plot.
I know of no reason
The Gunpowder Treason,
Should ever be forgot.”

 

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston: BudHouston@hughes.net. And Check out my latest publication the Just For Fun Agility Notebook #30 available on the Country Dream Web Store.

 

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[1] I’m certainly at odds with certain top agility seminar leaders on this point. Watch carefully though, almost always the person telling you that the dog is responsible for the jump is some smart aleck with a Border Collie who is satisfied to have a dog who is 90% of the team. It’s disheartening to watch them scold their dogs when the dog drops a bar on account of bad handling

More on Compulsories

I’ve believed for a very long time that the agility team (dog and handler) should master a number of compulsory exercises in establishing a firm foundation for agility work. What exercises and skills are needed to improve the performance of the team? These should be the foundation for training.

I searched around on my computer to find what my past work on the topic has been and found a list that I put together something like three years ago. It strikes me now that every darned one of these deserves a complete article, white paper, or blog post. So hang with me this winter and I will try to finish up my work on this topic.

Compulsory Exercises

November 27, 2006

The game of chase – Running with your dog

Building toy motivation ~ tug and retrieve

Two Jump Riddle of Sides

Figure of 8 – tight and technical

The Australian Triple – technical jumping

Around the Clock – conditioning the tire, and other obstacles

The Static Post – City Driving vs. Country Driving

Ripping apart the Velcro

• Working on a parallel path
• Progressive sending – jumps, and other obstacles
• Owning the Pinwheel

Exercises for Handler Movement

• Front Crosses – when to square, roll, or precue
• Blind Crosses – on the serpentine
• Tandem Turn – from simple to layered
• Back Crossing
• Counter-Rotations – RFP and the Flip

Mastering Obstacle Performance – Upping the Criteria

• Jump
• Tunnel
• Collapsed Chute
• Table
• Teeter
• Dogwalk
• A-frame
• Tire
• Weave Poles
• Spread Hurdles

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston: BudHouston@hughes.net. And Check out my latest publication the Just For Fun Agility Notebook #30 available on the Country Dream Web Store.

Don’t Be So Mean Jellybean

This all started with a note on Facebook from Becky Dean. She asks… how did  the Masters Standard go? Becky was away on the weekend on a family emergency; and I filled in for her down in Nashville.

I actually did this to Becky’s course. The transition from the tire to the weave poles did not go like this. So don’t blame this on her.

I’m tempted to call this “There’s no such thing as an ugly weave pole approach!” The two qualities for success in performance of the weave poles shall always be 1) Did you train your dog? And 2) Does the handler understand his job?

Let me try to qualify the two qualities for success concept:

Training the dog must address teaching an independent performance of the weave poles. Teach the dog to understand the entry and to make a controlled approach; teach the dog to weave at top speed and finish no matter how many poles are present.

The Handler’s Job is no less complex than the dog’s. But we tend to talk about it less. Frankly the handler’s job should compliment the quality of the weave pole training foundation. If a dog isn’t completely trained the handler may have to shape the approach carefully; establish rhythmic cadence and/or movement while the dog weaves; and provide as much speed cue and excitement as the dog can actually handle.

And if the dog is well trained the handler should at the very least understand how to make a presentation of the weave poles while keeping focus on the entry to support the dog.

Aside

I took one look at this and said to myself “don’t be so mean jellybean!” Ordinarily I wouldn’t use an idiom in my blog writing[1]. I was thinking that this expression sounds really retro 70’s or something; you know, kinda like “groovy” is retro 60’s. Then I rediscovered something I already knew… you can Google just about anything[2].

Anyhow, I didn’t find anything that helps explain the origins and chronology of the expression. But I did find this:

• Don’t Be So Mean Jellybean by Justin Rutledge

More Justin Rutledge music on iLike

This course actually ran lovely with a generous Q rate. The pull-through hard-aback turn from jump #3 to the pipe tunnel at #4 was an obvious challenge and tended to put the handler neatly with dog on right on the exit from the tunnel.

The next interesting moment in the course was all the away around to the turn from jump #15 to the dogwalk at #17. But wait! If I remember correctly one of the obstacle that attracted the greatest number of refusals… was jump #14. I mention the “interesting moment” first because I had to consider why a handler would lose discipline in a simple pinwheel and fail to support the dog to the outside jump. Well, I figure they were worried about getting position for a good Front Cross on the landing side of jump #15; and so they bail early from their responsibility to support the dog in the pinwheel.

The tunnel under the A-frame is set in such a way that it separates the handler from the dog on the dismount. It was true in this course and will generally be true that the number of missed down contacts was higher because some handler’s were unable to sit on their dogs’ heads through the finish of the ramp.

The A-frame is immediately followed by a hard aback presentation of jump #16 into an interesting little serpentine finish. We had at least a couple refusals of the final jump… but mostly from handler’s who worked the last three obstacles with dog-on-left.

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Questions comments & impassioned speeches to Bud Houston: BudHouston@hughes.net. And Check out my latest publication the Just For Fun Agility Notebook #30 available at www.dogagility.org/store.

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[1] Oh wooden eye, wooden eye!

 

[2] I use Bing.com actually.