Clean Run - February 2018 - 59

Stage 1: Sit-Stay Training
When I put my dog in front of a jump
at an angle, I want him to stay in a
sit on the line I have set while I lead
out, tell him to focus on that line,
and then release him. As I lead out,
his paws should stay planted on the
line; he shouldn't turn to face me as
I am moving away. To achieve this,
we must keep our criteria strong
throughout this training and keep
our sit-stay well reinforced as we
add difficulty.
There are no obstacles involved at
this stage. The work should be done
on the flat away from equipment.
1. With your dog in a sit, take your
toy and wave it front of your
dog-slowly to begin with. If your
dog holds his stay criteria, hold
the toy still for a beat and then
release him to get the toy. It is
important that the toy is still when
you give your release. You can
release your dog to grab the toy
and tug with you, you can toss it
to him, or you can throw the toy
forward in front of him, as long as
you keep the release clear. With
success, add other challenges
to the drill, such as increasing
the time you're moving the toy,
increasing your distance from the
dog, changing sides in front of
your dog, leading out away from
your dog (remember, you can
toss the toy back to him after you
release the dog), and so forth.
If at any time your dog breaks
criteria or fails in any way, keep
things upbeat-I use a cheery

nonreward marker like, "Get over
here you! That ain't it," with a big
smile on my face. I just reposition the dog and start again. It is
important to keep the session fun
and keep the dog engaged so
that you do not lessen his desire
to do the work. It's also important
that you never tell your dog he is
right when he is actually wrong
because ultimately this creates
more confusion.
2. Once your dog is happily holding
his stay while you move the toy
slowly, you can begin to move
the toy around a bit faster. If he is
successful, hold the toy still for a
beat, and then release him to it.
With success, continue to raise
the difficulty by moving the toy
faster and for longer periods of
time. To make the exercise more
difficult, increase your distance
from the dog, changing sides in
front of your dog, leading out, etc.
If at any time your dog is struggling and has repeated failures,
make the drill a bit easier by moving the toy more slowly and then
gradually raise the difficulty again.
3. Once your dog is happily holding
his stay while you move the toy
quickly and move around changing sides, etc. it's time for the
next step. With your dog in a sit,
place your toy on the ground in
front of him. Same routine here.
If he is able to hold his stay, you
can release him to the toy. If he
fails, try to beat him to the toy
and pick it up or step on it, use
your fun nonreward marker, and

then try again. With success, to
make the exercise more difficult,
increase your distance from the
dog, changing sides in front of
your dog, leading out, etc.
4. Once your dog can stay with
the toy placed on the ground in
front of him, add more difficulty
by having the toy move. Start by
dropping the toy on the ground
gently. Once the toy settles, wait
a beat and then release your
dog. Progress to a gently tossing
the toy out in front of the dog to
faster and more exciting tosses.
Again, always wait for the toy to
settle and then wait a beat before releasing. Increase the difficulty by changing your position,
changing sides, etc.
Once you are feeling great about
your dog's sit-stay, you can move on
to the next stage.
Stage 2: Setting the Line
Still no agility equipment involved!
1. Play with your dog, building his
desire for the toy you are using.
2. Stop playing and put your dog in
a sit-stay. Lead out to a position
that's 5 feet forward from him and
3 feet to the side as shown in
Figure 1.
3. Toss the toy laterally from your
position so that it lands on your
dog's line as illustrated in Figure
1-you don't want to toss the toy
forward as you are teaching the
dog to drive to your side, not to
overrun your position.

O.K.,
Get It!
3'

Put your dog in a
sit-stay and lead
out as shown.

February 18 | Clean Run

Toss the toy
laterally from you
on the dog's line.

Once your dog
focuses on the toy
wait a beat.

Release your dog
to the toy.

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