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Exercises
Publisher’s note
Foreword
Preface
Part I: Training fundamentals
Chapter 1: Introduction
Our training program
- Our goal: A happy and confident dog
- Building blocks for agility
- 1. You need to develop your theoretical understanding of dogs, training, and agility
- 2. You and your dog need to learn foundation skills
- 3. You need to put it all together
Behavior and learning
- Behavior is what matters
- Learning alters behavior
Classical conditioning
- Unconditioned responses
- Conditioned responses: learned expectations
- Changing already learned expectations
- What does this have to do with agility?
- Sidebar: The Premack principle
Operant conditioning
- Reinforcement, punishment, and extinction
- Box: Positive and negative reinforcement and punishment, plus extinction
- Operant conditioning in your agility training
The basics of clicker training
- Training by clicker training principles
- The marker signal
- Rewarding without marking
- Five keys to successful clicker training
Reinforcers
- Treats and toys
- Social interaction and play
- Opportunity to perform desirable behaviors
- Rewards as distractions and distractions as rewards
How to get behavior
- Different ways to get behavior
- Sidebar: Making the dog do something, or teaching him to do it
- Sidebar: The lure of luring
When and how to advance
- Fade your aids
- Add variations and distractions
- Add duration to the behavior
- Add distance to the behavior
- Vary the reward ratio
- “Name” the behavior
- Sidebar: Verbal cues in our agility training
- Sidebar: Discrimination, cues, and stimulus control
- Form a behavior chain
What to do when mistakes happen
- Good management
- Sidebar: The trouble with aversives
TAGteach: Clicker training for people
- Sidebar: A TAGteach glossary
The rules of Good Agility Practices
- Keep your focus on the exercise and your dog
- Work with high intensity when training
- Remain true to your system of handling
What agility is all about
- List of priorities
- Obstacle performance and handling: different areas of responsibility
The obstacle performance part
- The obstacles – as the rulebook sees them
- The obstacles – as we choose to train them
- Box: The obstacles and our suggested training goals for the dog
- Independent obstacle performance
The handling part
- Handling systems
- Sidebar: Independent obstacle performance vs. handler-dependent performance
- Sidebar: Your dog’s innate understanding of body language
- Sidebar: Why is it important to have a well-thought-out system of handling?
- The basics of our handing system
- Sidebar: Greg Derrett’s handling system
- Always follow your handling system
Part II: Foundation skills for you and your dog
Chapter 6: About foundation training
What you’ll learn in Part II, Foundation skills for you and your dog
- Sidebar: The road ahead: putting it together
- Dog training isn’t strictly linear
- The benefits of foundation work
- Sidebar: The drawbacks of skipping foundation work
Teaching your dog foundation skills
- Sidebar: Learning to offer behaviors voluntarily
- Equipment
- A word about verbal cues
- Working equally on your left and right sides
- A great training session
- Checklist for great training sessions
- Sidebar: Thinking, planning, and record keeping
- Box: A great training session: thinking and planning
- Box: A great training session: working with your dog
- Box: A great training session: the review
Reader’s guidelines
Becoming a trainer and a handler
Coordination and body control
- Exercise 1: The flight attendant drill
Timing
- What should precise timing look like?
- Improving your timing: Mark at the right moment
- Exercise 2: Clicker practice
- Exercise 3: Press Pause
Setting criteria: the basics of shaping
- What should appropriate criteria look like?
- Practicing setting criteria
- Play the Training Game
- Exercise 4: The training game
- The training game, plush animal version
- A few tips
Treat delivery
- What should effective treat delivery look like?
- Practicing treat delivery
- Treats to plate
- Exercise 5: Treats to plate, basic version
- Sidebar: Where to keep the treats and toys
- Exercise 6: Treats to plate, many treats in the delivery hand
- Switching hands
- Exercise 7: Switching hands
Precision throwing
- What should precision throwing look like?
- Practicing precision throwing
- Exercise 8: Throw along a set line
- Exercise 9: Throw a certain distance
- Exercise 10: Improve your precision throwing
Remaining neutral
- What should “remaining neutral” look like?
- Why is it so important to remain neutral?
- Practicing remaining neutral
- Click first, then treat to plate
- Exercise 11: Click, then treat to plate
- Exercise 12: Treats to plate, one treat ready in the delivery hand
- Exercise 13: Click, then treat to plate, many treats in the delivery hand
- Giving a start cue while remaining neutral
- Exercise 14: Say “go”, then throw the toy – while standing still
- Exercise 15: Say “go”, then throw the toy – while moving
Varying your own behavior
Handling basics in the Oval
- What should performing the Oval look like?
- Why do you need it?
- Practicing the Oval
The role of rewards in your training
- Reward requirements
- Various rewards and reward procedures
- Sidebar: So your dog is going crazy over his rewards? Perfect!
- Sidebar: Vary the reward type, source, and delivery
- Tasty treats
- Thrilling toys
- Treats disguised as toys
Introducing the clicker
- What should “click and treat” look like?
- What should it look like when you use your clicker to mark a behavior?
- Teaching your dog the meaning of the clicker
- Charging the clicker
Developing a taste for treats
The treat magnet
- What should the treat magnet look like?
- Why do you need the treat magnet?
- How can you train it?
- Step 1: Get the treat magnet behavior
- Step 2: Build duration
- Step 3: Add distractions
Developing a joy for toys
Release the toy
- What should release the toy look like
- Why do you need it?
- How can you train it?
- Step 1: Release the toy
- Step 2: Add a “thank you” cue
- Step 3: Maintain the release
- Sidebar: Skip the “thank you” cue and just steal the toy!
Tug
- What should the game of tug look like?
- Why do you need the tug part?
- Why do you need the release part?
- How can you train it?
- Step 1, version A: Shape tug using the game itself as a reward
- Step 1, version B: Shape tug using treat rewards
- Exercise 18: Get into that sock
- Sidebar: Tug – release – tug again!
- Step 2: Build duration
- Step 3: Add distractions
- Step 4: Add a “get it” cue
Chase and come back
- What should chase and come back look like?
- Why do you need the “chase” part?
- Why do you need the “come back” part?
- How can you train it?
- Step 1: Push the toy into your hand
- Stage 1: Teach a hand target
- Exercise 19: Shape the hand touch
- Stage 2: Get the grab and hold
- Sidebar: Introduce your release cue
- Stage 3: Push the toy into your hand
- Step 2: Come toward you with the toy
- Step 3: Pick up the toy
- Step 4: Chase the toy
- Informally encouraging your dog to chase and come back
Staying in the training bubble
- Transport requirements
- Different means of transport
- Treat magnet and tug transports
- Sidebar: Using transports after a mistake
- Collar transports and lift-and-carry
- Using a recall
- Hand target transports
- Practice getting to a good starting point
Our favorite teaching strategies
- Sidebar: Practice without your dog first!
Shaping Aim for it
- What should Aim for it look like?
- Why do you need Aim for it?
- Sidebar: Making use of Aim for it
- How can you train it?
- Sidebar: Place the reward ahead of your dog!
- Sidebar: Train your dog; don’t hide the reward
- Shaping Aim for the mat
- Step 1: Nose pointing toward the mat for a millisecond
- Exercise 21: Begin shaping Aim for the mat, delivering many rewards on the way
- Exercise 22: Begin shaping Aim for the mat, delivering just one reward far ahead
- Box: Guidelines for shaping Aim for it
- Box: Guidelines for shaping Aim for it (continued)
- Step 2: Actively point the nose forward
- Step 3: Step forward, toward the mat
- Step 4: Dash all the way to the mat
- Troubleshooting
- Sidebar: What is “troubleshooting”?
- Treats, toy, clicker – I have too many things and too few hands. Help!
- My dog never looks forward, he just stares at me!
- It feels as if I’m just luring and clicking!
- I’m getting the behavior but my dog moves very slowly!
Shaping Aim for it using the Bermuda Triangle
- What should Aim for it look like in the Bermuda Triangle?
- Why do you need the Bermuda Triangle?
- How can you train it?
- Sidebar: Another bonus of the Bermuda triangle
- A few Bermuda Triangle tips
Race to reward
- What should Race to reward look like?
- Why do you need Race to reward?
- Sidebar: Making use of Race to reward
- How can you train it?
- Step 1: Get the behavior: Teach your dog to race to the reward
- Exercise 23: Teach your dog to race to his reward
- Sidebar: Three ways to switch sides
- Step 2: Reduce helper’s actions; add variations and distractions
- Troubleshooting
- But it feels as if my dog is just trying to get away from me!
- What should I do if my dog is hesitant and asking for permission to go?
- What do I do if my dog is reluctant to run to the helper?
- Won’t this exercise create rude and crazy dogs that run around wildly
- Sidebar: The spontaneous starts are important
- Box: Foundation skills
- Box: Obstacles
Working with various pieces of equipment
- The equipment
- Your handling while your dog is working
- Teaching the skills with both strategies
- Box: Teaching equipment-related skills using Aim for it and Race to reward
- Box: Teaching equipment-related skills (continued)
Teaching between/around/over/onto/under/through using Aim for it
- What should it look like?
- Why do you need it?
- How can you train it?
- Sidebar: The difference between a thrilling, moving reward and a lure
- Step 1: Get the behavior
- Exercise 24: Go under a chair using Aim for it
- Step 2: Vary the angle (when applicable)
- Step 3: Add variations and distractions
- Step 4: Increase the distance
- Sidebar: To mark or not to mark when training “aim for it”?
Teaching between/around/over/onto/under/through using Race to reward
- What should it look like?
- Why do you need it?
- How can you train it?
- Sidebar: use Race to reward only when you want your dog to actually race!
- Step 1: Add equipment in Race to reward
- Sidebar: What if my dog hesitates?
- Exercise 25: Race to reward, equipment added
- Step 2: Add angles; require that your dog choose the right path
- Exercise 26: Go between at an angle
- Step 3: Vary the distance
- Sidebar: How to deal with mistakes
- Sidebar: To mark or not to mark when Racing to reward?
- Step 4: Increase the difficulty of the equipment
- Step 5: Add variations and distractions
Chapter 12: Noise and movement
Bombproofing your dog
- Making use of classical and operant conditioning
- Sidebar: A note on different kinds of dogs
Teaching your dog to like, create, and demand noise
- What should it look like when your dog likes, creates, and demands noise?
- Why do you need it?
- How can you train it?
- Step 1: Teach your dog to like noise
- Step 2: Teach your dog to create noise (through you)
- Step 3: Teach your dog to create noise (on his own)
- Step 4: Teach your dog to demand noise
Teaching your dog to like, create, and demand movement
- What should it look like when your dog likes, creates, and demands movement?
- Why do you need it?
- How can you train it?
- Step 1: Preparation: Teach your dog to stand on the board
- Step 2: Teach your dog to like movement
- Step 3: Teach your dog to create movement (you move the board)
- Exercise 32: Teach your dog to trigger you to move the board
- Step 4: Teach your dog to create movement (your dog moves the board on his own)
- Exercise 33: Teach your dog to move the board himself
- Step 5: Teach your dog to demand movement
Noise and movement in your everyday life
- Sidebar: Social facilitation
Developing rear-end control
Step by step: forward, backward, and sideways
- What should step by step look like?
- Why do you need it?
- How can you train it?
- Walking forward
- Backing up
- Sidestepping
- Sidebar: Other rear-end and body control training
Spontaneous or on cue?
- The spontaneous start
- The start on cue
- Use both spontaneous starts and start-line stays
- Sidebar: Set your rules and stick to them
The secrets of a perfectly reliable start-line stay
- Teaching the start, teaching the stay
Start on cue
- What should start on cue look like?
- Why do you need it?
- How can you train it?
- Teaching the start cue using Race to reward
- Teach “Go” and throw
Stay
- What should Stay and start look like?
- Why do you need the stay?
- Which position should I teach my dog?
- Sidebar: You can teach more than one start position if you wish
- How can you train it?
- Step 1: Use Race to reward to get the first hint of a stay
- Exercise 37: Get the first ounce of balance
- Step 2: Shape a longer stay
- Step 3: Introduce variations and distractions
- Exercise 38: Add variations and distractions while your dog stands still and starts on cue
- Step 4: Let go of your dog
- Exercise 39: Start-line stay, hands off collar
- Sidebar: Broken criteria
- Sidebar: “Helping” doesn’t help!
- Sidebar: Your position and your movement when practicing race to reward from a start-line stay
- Sidebar: Cue to look ahead?
- Sidebar: It’s all about stimulus control
- Sidebar: Possibly add a “ready, steady” cue
- Contrast training: Varying between spontaneous starts and start-line stays
- Exercise 40: Contrasting between spontaneous starts and starts on cue
- Separately training the stay behavior
- To get the stand
- To keep your dog in a stand
- Sidebar: The stay continues after each reward
- Exercise 41: Nailing your dog in a stand
- Generalization, thy name is variation
- Vary your own behavior and position
- Use potential rewards as distractions
- Vary when and how you reward
- Vary the location and add other potential distractions
Teaching your dog to follow your shoulders
- Sidebar: Handling reminder
Outside circles
- What should outside circles look like?
- Why do you need it?
- How can you train it?
- Step 1: Teach your dog to stay on your outside when moving in a circle
- Exercise 42: Walk the first circles with your dog on the outside
- Sidebar: Inside circles
- Step 2: Introduce more intermittent rewards, increase the speed, and vary the size of the circle
- Troubleshooting
Race to me
- What should Race to me look like?
- Why do you need it?
- How can you train it?
- Step 1: Teach your dog to race straight to you
- Exercise 43: Race to me: Get the behavior, no cue
- Step 2. Add your start cue
- Sidebar: Teaching an attention/come to me cue
- Exercise 44: Race to me: Add the cue
- Step 3: Add variations and start-line stays to Race to me
Part III: Putting it all together
Chapter 16: About handling and obstacle training
What you’ll learn in Part III, Putting it all together
Chapter 17: Handling maneuvers on the flat
About handling
- The obstacles and rewards
- The direction of your shoulders
- Your moving ahead or stopping/standing still
- Sidebar: Defining “ahead of you”
- Sidebar: Dog-stride glossary
- Sidebar: Stopping
- Sidebar: Constants in your handling training
- Handling training
- Sidebar: Customize exercises to your handling training
- Sidebar: Using remote rewards/distractions to train reliable handling responses
Straight ahead
- What should straight ahead look like?
- How can you train it?
- Sidebar: Your position and movement when practicing straight ahead to a remote reward
- Racing straight past you
- Exercise 45: Run straight past the handler to a remote reward
- Exercise 46: Run straight past the handler to a thrown toy (no remote reward)
Regular turn
- What should a regular turn look like
- How can you train it?
- Regular turn in the outside circle
- Exercise 47: Turn tight in the outside circle
- Race to me and turn
- Exercise 48: Race to me and turn, reward immediately
- Exercise 49: Race to me and turn, then Race to reward
- Contrast training: straight ahead or turning?
Front cross
- What should the front cross look like?
- Front-cross footwork
- Step 1: Find your path in the Figure Eight
- Sidebar: Illustrating the front cross
- Exercise 50: Find your path in the Figure Eight
- Step 2: Practice the toes-in, toes-out footwork separately
- Exercise: Twirl to the right
- Step 3: Polish the perfect three-step front cross
- Exercise 52: Three-step footwork in the Figure Eight
- How can you teach your dog to respond to your front cross?
- Front cross in the outside circle
- Exercise 53: Front cross in the outside circle
- Race to me and turn with a front cross
- Exercise 54: Race to me and front cross, reward immediately
- Contrasts: Straight ahead, regular turn, or front cross?
Stopping/standing still
- What should stopping/standing still look like?
- Sidebar: Stopping/standing still, cueing a wrap
- Sidebar: Some cautions
- How can you train it?
- Race to me and stop with me
- Exercise 55: Stop with me
- Exercise 56: Come to me when I stand still
- Contrasts: stop or keep going straight ahead?
Rear cross
- What should the rear cross look like?
- How can you train it?
- Rear cross exercise: Step behind your dog
- Exercise 57: Rear cross, step behind
Teaching jumps and tunnels
- Teaching the obstacles in four steps
- Order of events
Jump wings
- What should it look like when your dog performs the jump wings?
- Why do you need jump-wing training?
- How can you train it?
- Step 1: Get the behavior
- Box: Jump wings: get the behavior
- Always remember
- Step 2: Expand the understanding
- Box: Expand the understanding
- Sidebar: Your handling at severe angles
- Sidebar: Avoid rewarding away from your dog’s path
- Step 3: Get the flow
- Box: Jump wings: get the flow
- Sidebar: This is my dance space, this is your dance space
- Sidebar: Using helpers to throw rewards
- Sidebar: Don’t get stuck behind the wing!
Tunnels
- What should it look like when your dog performs a tunnel?
- How can you train it?
- Step 1: Get the behavior
- Box: Tunnels: get the behavior
- Sidebar: Stay consistent
- Step 2: Expand the understanding
- Box: Tunnels: expand the understanding
- Step 3: Get the flow
- Box: Tunnels: get the flow
Different kinds of jumps
- What should it look like when your dog performs a jump?
- How can you train it?
- Sidebar: Jumping demands
- Sidebar: Glossary of jump types
- Step 1: Get the behavior
- Box: Jumps: get the behavior
- Step 2: Add new variations using Race to reward
- Box: Jumps: Expand the understanding and get the flow, using Race to reward
- Sidebar: Jump-training setups
- Step 3: Introducing Aim for it
- Box: Introduce Aim for it, expand the understanding, and get the flow
- Sidebar: Knocked bars
- Sidebar: Actually jumping is key
The tire
- What should it look like when your dog performs the tire?
- How can you train it?
- Step 1: Get the behavior
- Box: Tire: Get the behavior
- Step 2: Expand the understanding
- Box: Tire: Expand the understanding
- Step 3: Get the flow
Combining handling maneuvers and obstacle performance
- Sidebar: “Right” or “wrong” depends on your handling system!
- Teaching your dog to follow your handling in sequences
- Sidebar: Sequencing fuses Aim for it and Race to reward
- Always consider where to start and where to finish
- Sidebar: Imagine a videotape
- Employ back-chaining
- Contrasts
- Handling mistakes
- Walk the course
Straight ahead and regular turns
- What should straight ahead and a regular turn look like?
- How can you train straight lines?
- Sidebar: Avoid layering
- Sidebar: Regular turn when taking an obstacle “from behind”
- Sidebar: Some frequent regular turn sequences: 90°, 180°, and 270° turns
- Contrast straight ahead and regular turns
- Sidebar: Going straight or turning
- Sidebar: Going straight or turning (continued)
Front cross
- Sidebar: How do I know when I need to switch sides?
- What should the front cross look like?
- Sidebar: Three-step reminder
- How can you train front crosses?
- Sidebar: What if I can’t make it to the front cross?
- Front crosses with distractions
- Front crosses in the start: “lead-out pivot”
- Front cross on the outside of a 270° turn
Rear cross
- What should the rear cross look like
- How can you train rear crosses?
- Step 1: Send to the jump and cross behind, using Race to reward
- Exercise 58: The first rear crosses (releasing your dog at takeoff and crossing right away)
- Exercise 59: Increase the distance to the jump (running the diagonal)
- Step 2: Send to the jump and cross behind, using Aim for it
- Step 3: Add obstacles after the rear cross, exiting in various directions
- Step 4: Add obstacles before the rear cross, approaching from various directions
- Sidebar: The finer details of where to point your shoulders
- Sidebar: Driving ahead is key
The wrap
- What should a wrap look like
- Your dog has to adjust his stride
- Sidebar: Jump technique training
- How can you train wraps
- Jump and turn tight
- Exercise 60: The first wrap
- Sidebar: What if my dog hesitates to take the jump?
- Wraps on course
- Sidebar: What if I can’t make it to the wing?
The threadle
- Sidebar: An “abbreviation” of two front crosses
- What should the threadle look like
- Sidebar: Threadle footwork
- How can you train the threadle?
- Sidebar: Wait until you and your dog are ready
- Step 1: Come to you in threadle position
- Exercise 61: Use you threadle arm to pull your dog past the jump wing
- Step 2: The second arm change
- Exercise 62: Pull your dog between the jumps, then send him ahead over the second jump´
- Step 3: The first arm change
- Exercise 63: Send your dog over jump #1, then pull him between the jumps
- Sidebar: What if I can’t make it to the wing?
- Step 4: Do the full threadle
- Exercise 64: Do a complete threadle
- Threadles in more open settings
The serpentine
- Two full front crosses on either side of the middle obstacle
- What should the serpentine look like?
- How can you train the serpentine?
- Step 1: Come toward you over the serpentine jump
- Exercise 65: Use your serpentine arm to bring your dog toward you over the middle jump
- Step 2: The second arm change
- Exercise 66: Bring your dog toward you over the middle jump, switch arms, and reward
- Step 3: The first arm change
- Exercise 67: Send your dog over jump #1, switch arms, and bring him toward you over jump #2
- Step 4: Do the full serpentine
Further sequencing
- Tailor your sequences to your level of training
- Set goals for each sequence
- Minor adjustments, major progress
- Longer sequences
- Complex sequences
- Altering given sequences
About contact training
- Sidebar: The contact zones
- Aspects to consider when choosing your contact behavior
- Sidebar: But doesn’t stopping on the contact cost a lot of time?
- Two-on/two-off
- What should the finished two-on/two-off performance look like?
- Sidebar: Two-on/two-off with a nose touch
- How can you train the two-on/two-off behavior?
- Sidebar: Train your contacts meticulously, step by step
- Sidebar: Just for fun, or a competitive edge?
- Box: Away from the obstacles
- Box: On the A-frame and dogwalk
- Box: On the teeter
- Box: Prerequisites for training the contact obstacles
Foot target
- Sidebar: Our actual criterion: at least one foot on the target
- What should the foot-target behavior look like?
- Equipment
- Why do you need it?
- How can you train it?
- Sidebar: Don’t add a target cue for your contact work!
- Step 1: Basic foot-target work
- Stage 1: Get the behavior: foot on target
- Sidebar: placement of reward
- Exercise 68: Get the foot-target behavior
- Sidebar: Tips to avoid curling
- Sidebar: Constantly vary your own behavior a little bit
- Stage 2: Make it fast and fluent
- Exercise 69: Teach your dog to Step on it
- Stage 3: Add variations and distractions
- Step 2: Hold the position at the target, start on cue
- Sidebar: Why is the start cue so important?
- Sidebar: “Go” and throw or Race to reward
- Method 1: Build duration using solely the start cue as reward
- Exercise 70: Teach your dog to hold his position on the target, rewarding solely with your start cue
- Method 2: Build duration using multiple rewards in position
- Sidebar: Click or no click?
- Exercise 71: Teach your dog to hold his position on the target, rewarding with multiple treats in position (and ending with the start cue)
- Sidebar: What if my dog doesn’t hit the target?
- Sidebar: What if my dog doesn’t respond to my start cue?
- Step 3: Add further variations and distractions
- Sidebar: Don’t just proof your dog for holding position!
- Step 4: Increase the distance
- Exercise 72: Hit the target from a distance
- Sidebar: Using a cue to release your dog to the target
- Step 5: Step down to the target
- Exercise 73: Target over an edge
- Step 6: Fade the target
Two-on/two-off
- What should the two-on/two-off behavior look like?
- Equipment
- Sidebar: Why does the first step of the two-on/two-off training differ from the first step of target training?
- Step 1: Step down, reward in position, and start on cue
- Stage 1: Get the behavior: step down
- Exercise 74: Shape your dog to step over the edge
- Sidebar: Tips for getting your dog to step down straight ahead
- Sidebar: One or two feet on the ground?
- Stage 2: Make it fast and fluent
- Stage 3: Add variations and distractions
- Step 2: Hold the position
- Step 3: Add further variations and distractions
- Step 4: Find the edge from a distance
A-frame and dogwalk
- What should the finished A-frame and dogwalk performance look like?
- The obstacles
- How can you train it?
- A-frame and dogwalk training in six steps
- Steps 1-3: Get the behavior, vary the duration, and add variations and distractions
- Sidebar: What do I do if my dog doesn’t put his feet where I want them?
The teeter
- What should the finished teeter performance look like?
- Sidebar: “Four on the contact” on the teeter
- How can you train it?
- Sidebar: Teeter cautions
- Sidebar: Pressure-free teeter training
- Step 1: Learn what to do at the end of the teeter
- Stage 1: Teeter movement
- Exercise 75: Rock the boat (teeter movement equals treat)
- Exercise 76: C’mon, make it move! (create teeter movement through you)
- Sidebar: To click or not to click
- Sidebar: What about the contact performance?
- Stage 2: Teeter impact
- Exercise: C’mon, slam!
- Sidebar: It depends on your dog’s size
- Sidebar: Teeter woes
- Stage 3: Rehearse the two-on/two-off + freeze + start cue
- Stage 4: Add movement + impact to the chain
- Exercise 78: Two-on/two-off after movement and impact
- Step 2: Run to the start button
- Sidebar: Why should the “start button” be so far out?
- Stage 1: Run all the way to the start button
- Stage 2: Hit the start button and make the teeter move
- Sidebar: Secure the target
- Exercise 79: Push the button, make the teeter move!
- Sidebar: Using a lower teeter
- Stage 3: Perform the whole obstacle “competition style”
- Sidebar: Just trying to get there
- Sidebar: The teeter cue
- Step 3: Vary where you are going after the teeter
- Step 4: Vary where you are coming from
Maintaining brilliant performance on the contact obstacles
- Stick to your criteria
- Use your start cue as a reward
- Go back to basics whenever you need to
- Vary, vary, vary
- Sidebar: Example of variations for contact performance
- Keep it fun and exciting
Teaching the table
- What should the table performance look like?
- Resemblances to contact training
The process: table training in eight steps
- Step 1: lie down
- Sidebar: Teaching a sit, too
- Stage 1: Get the down
- Stage 2: Make it fast and fluent
- Stage 3: Add variations and distractions
- Step 2: Hold the position + start on cue
- Step 3: Get onto (+ down + hold the position + start on cue)
- Step 4: Add further variations and distractions
- Step 5: Vary where you’re going after the table
- Step 6: Increase the distance
- Step 7: Vary where you’re coming from
- Step 8: Maintain the brilliant performance
About training the weaves
- Weave pole entries around the clock
- Weave pole training strategies
- How to succeed with your weave pole training
- Aim for the weaves
One pair of poles
- What should the performance at one pair of poles look like?
- How can you train it?
- Step 1: Get the behavior at 6 o´clock
- Stage 1: Get the behavior at slightly open poles
- Sidebar: This goes for all your weave pole training
- Exercies 80: Get the behavior of “going between slightly open poles”
- Stage 2: Get the behavrior on closed poles
- Step 2: Get the behavior around the clock
- Sidebar: How will my dog know which direction the weaves go?
- Sidebar: Using a set direction as a helping aid
- Step 3: Expand the understanding
- Stage 1: Add handler variations and other distractions
- Stage 2: Vary the distance
- Stage 3: Let your dog do several pairs of poles for one reward
- Stage 4: Introduce Race to reward
Further weave pole training
- Sidebar: The clicker and the weaves
- Sidebar: Continue to the end of the weaves even if your dog makes a mistake
- Step 1: Work up to four poles
- Strategy 1: Put two pairs of poles together
- Strategy 2: Shape three to four poles
- Strategy 3: Channels: advance from open to closed poles
- Sidebar: A couple of brand names
- Step 2: Get all angles at four poles
- Step 3: Expand the understanding (working through all variations)
- Sidebar: Distracting handling in the weave poles
- Step 4: Work up to a full set of poles
- Step 5: Vary where you are going after the poles
- Step 6: Vary where you come from
- Sidebar: Sending to the weaves from the “wrong” side
Troubleshooting in your weave pole training
- Mistakes and misunderstandings
Resources
Exercises
About the authors
Acknowledgments
Photography credits
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