Clean Run Magazine - February 2007 - 44

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around till he almost bites your hand, then get out the toy. Move the toy
by dragging it on the ground just in front of the pup’s nose, but
don’t push it into his face. Tease him with it, and when he begins to
chase the toy from side to side, allow him to sink his teeth in and get a
good hold. Tug with your puppy only as much as he is willing to pull the
toy away from you in return. Follow your pup’s lead; let him drag you
around the room. Pretend to let him win the tug game, especially if he is
a reluct a n t tugger. Once your pup loves to tug, you can drag him around
gently with the toy. Progress to doing a couple of short retrieves with the
toy. The pup should be on leash or alternatively, the toy should be on
leash when retrieving so that you can guide him back to you with the
leash. If the toy does not have a long handle, attach your leash to it so
that you can throw it a few feet away, and gently drag it back again. Be
quiet when your pup first picks up the toy, since often he will drop it if
you are too animated while he retrieves. That should change as your dog
does more reliable retrieves. Don’t ever throw out a toy and let your
dog wander off. Figure out how you can encourage your pup to return and
continue to play with you. Pick up the toy and throw it again if the dog
brings it to you and drops it. If he does not drop the toy, praise for
returning to you, but keep your hands off the toy so that he does not try
to hide his new possession from you by running off with the toy. POPP
Before Training We always start training sessions with Sweep the following
way with an older dog you can leave out the P for Potty! : Plan exactly
what will be taught during the training session. well as for other skills.
Don’t get stressed if your pup won’t play; you will telegraph your
stress and put pressure on the pup, which will make engaging in play with
your dog that much more difficult. Teach your dog to play in a comfortable
safe environment before trying to play in other environments. COURTESY OF
KATLHEEN ALLES Organize all items you need: tug toy, clicker, treats cut
into tiny bits all placed in a bowl out of his reach but within yours,
training aids like boxes, baskets, and balance toys. Potty the pup on
leash away from the training area. Play tug in the training area for at
least a minute or longer, but don’t totally tire your pup. If your pup
tugged nicely, progress to the intended skill training. If your pup
won’t play at all, the session should just be about playing with your
pup, instead of moving into food training. Skill Skill Training Before
starting a skill training session, remember to complete the POPP
steps—plan, organize, potty, play. The training session then goes in
this order: play, then train, then play again. Playing comes first,
training second, then play again to end the session or use the play to put
a break between short training sessions. Start your skill training session,
like release training or hand targeting, and do not deviate from your
planned training session to reward other behaviors that your dog offers.
Do a couple of minutes of focused training. If you have been working on
Down in previous sessions, but now you are trying to work on hand
targeting and your pup keeps offering you these incredible downs, ignore
them and stay on track with your hand targeting. You might not be marking
and rewarding targeting quickly enough, and out of frustration your pup
will try to earn treats another way. Try teaching downs in one area of
your home, and targeting in another for a few days to avoid confusion. End
with another short play session. Try not to stop unless your dog will play
with you. Don’t short-change the play at the end of the session. It is
important that your dog eventually is able to go quickly from food
training back to interacting with you in toy play. Adjust the length of
time of the toy/train/toy sessions on either end till you find the right
balance for your dog. A very active pup might have a longer play session
in the beginning to take the edge off. A less driven pup might have a
shorter play session to start, as long as he is really playing. If you
can’t get the dog to tug, you may need to do many short tug and play
sessions and lower your expectations for play by quitting play as soon as
you see some progress beyond where you ended your last play session. You
can also click and treat your pup for tugging as Troubleshooting If your
dog does not want to stop playing to do skill training with food, then
start your sessions with food training, then play, then end with food
training. Skip the middle part of play if the pup won’t take food. You
may need to adjust on a weekly or even daily basis the order in which you
train/ play. If your pup says no play today, then focus more on play than
food training. Also try to reward some of the behaviors you are teaching
with your toy, or even other activities, instead of food. D Your Puppy
Everyday! y Ever da Toy play: Toys are our tools in agility. Introduce
them early and often. Ex e r c i s e : Physical activities, including
running, restrained recalls, and balance work. Acclimate: Socialize your
dog, to everyone and everything. Confinement: Accustom your dog to being
confined in a cage, ex-pen, or by perimeter training. Handling: Use touch,
grooming, holding, trimming nails, and teaching behaviors to acclimate your
pup to handling, which will assist in grooming and physical examinations.
TEACH TEACH Nancy Gyes and her husband Jim Basic run Power Paws Agility in
San Jose, California. She is the AKC World Team Coach for 2006 and has been
on the AKC World Team seven times, four years with Scud and three with
Riot. Nancy and Riot finished 1st in 2002 and 2nd in 2001 in Individual
Agility classes at Worlds. Nancy also won the USDAA Nationals four years
in a row, 1998 to 2001, with three different dogs, Scud, Riot, and Wicked.
In 2001 and 2002, Nancy and Riot were the 24 jump height AKC National
Champions. Scud retired in 2001 after winning the USDAA Veterans
Championship. Contact Nancy at www.powerpawsagility.com, where you can
also view other articles and videos. 44 Clean Run | February 07   Warning : Unknown : The session id contains invalid characters, valid
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Clean Run Magazine - February 2007

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