Clean Run - April 2018 - 30

whole body will be in line: shoulders,
hips, knees, and feet. Remember to
look over your shoulder and keep a
strong eye on your dog, eye-to-eye
contact is good!
Practice catch-up-to-heel-position
pulls as well. Have the dog on a sitstay and then lead out. Face the same
direction that the dog is facing; your
back is to the dog. Release the dog
and pat your leg to encourage him
to come to heel position. Maintain
strong eye contact as he comes in, and
throughout the execution of the pull
cue. Begin to rotate away from the
dog as he approaches. Experiment to
find the perfect time to start rotating.
The faster the dog is moving (more
momentum), the sooner you need to
start your pull. Stand nice and tall and
pat your leg.
Vary between rewarding with food
beside your leg and throwing a toy in
front of you after the rotation to get
the dog to drive out of the turn.
Increase the lead-out distance as
you're successful.

Add One Jump
Start with a lead-out. Stand close to
the jump on the takeoff side near the
last third of the bar (not next to the
jump) as shown in Figure 1. Face the
direction the dog will jump (your back
is to the dog, so you look over your
shoulder to see the dog). Have the dog
in a sit-stay 4 feet in front of the jump
(increase the distance when you are
successful). Standing still, release the
dog and then begin to slowly rotate.
Pat your leg as you turn and keep your
eye on the dog. Vary the amount that
you rotate including doing a 360-degree pull that would end with your
dog doing the jump a second time.
Continue to reward success as you did
in the groundwork. Work the dog on
both your left and right side.
Add Motion
Do not fool yourself into believing if
you train wonderful pulls while standing still that the training will translate
to wonderful pulls while running.
These are two separate and necessary
training projects.

Begin with jogging first, adding speed
as you have success. While approaching the jump with the dog, experiment
with the timing of when to start the
pull cue. If you need to get the dog's
attention, give him a cookie on your
leg to emphasis the lack of motion cue
just before the pull cue.
Start the dog farther away from the
jump to add momentum, which will
also add difficulty. If you begin to fall
behind the dog, continue the experiment to further understand the position you need to be in to get a reliable
response to your cues.
Add a Second Jump
Place another jump parallel to the original jump about 12 feet away. This second jump creates two new challenges.
It adds the difficulty that momentum
brings to the training. It can also be
used as a "trap" jump to take the dog's
comprehension to the next level.
* To add momentum, execute the pull
cue on the second jump as shown in
Figure 2. Your timing has to be adjusted to get a tight pull on the stanchion of the second jump. Increase
the distance between the jumps as
success allows.

Execute the pull on the second jump to
increase the dog's momentum. Increase the
distance between the jumps as success
allows. Practice with and without a lead-out.
When you run with the dog, experiment with
the timing of when to start the pull cue.
Correct starting
position

Incorrect starting
position

This handler is positioned next to the wing instead of
being tucked behind it and her arm is also raised. She
can't expect a tight turn from her dog.
30

Now the handler has moved into the correct position for the pull. The dog has room to wrap tightly around the wing.
Clean Run | April 18

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