Clean Run Magazine - June 2007 - 36

Contacts One of the skills I like to make sure my dog has a strong foundation in is contacts. At the Novice level most courses allow the handler to be near the dog for contact performances, but at the Open and Elite levels the handler will have to increase her working distance from the contact. I make sure my dog has a solid foundation in contacts before moving up to Open or Elite. COURTESY OF AMANDA NELSON house must be like a military boot camp; she makes her dogs respect her.” But that is very far from my situation. Let’s take my older dog Mardi as an example. She is retired now, but when I competed with her, she liked to keep her distance from me and didn’t like my coming in toward her. This weakness of ours showed on some courses that required up-close and personal handling. So I worked with Mardi and we came to a compromise: I did some exercises with her that brought her in close to me where I clicked and treated her. I then immediately sent her back out away from me for some distance sequences. I worked with her so that she learned to come in to me even though she didn’t like it, but she trusted that I would let her go back out for distance work. I see so many dog and handler teams that are fighting out on a course while the handler is insisting that the dog do a certain behavior. It could be that the dog, like Mardi, doesn’t like coming in to the handler. The handler sees this as being a “bad dog” and forces the dog to learn this skill. Or perhaps the dog does not like to perform the two-on/two-off behavior but the handler sees the dog stopping with all four feet on the board as “bad,” and so on. All controversies can come to a compromise. I still want Mardi to come in close to me so I work with her to find out what she likes (in this case, she liked going back out for distance) and use that to help the dog learn the skill. In the beginning Novice levels try to use this time to see what your dog likes and doesn’t like. Test new handling positions; handle closer than you might or farther on a sequence that you normally wouldn’t handle away. This experimentation helps you to know your dog’s strengths and weaknesses, so that when you walk a course and see an up-close sequence or a distance sequence, you can tailor those sequences to you and your dog. Dog Puzzles In the sport of dog agility, no matter which venue you play in or what level you compete at, there are lots of “puzzles” on the course. Since dogs are consistently seeing many different obstacles and paths they could take on every step of the course, our job as handlers is to show them the correct path and which obstacles to take. By teaching “doggy puzzles” I can help my dog “learn to learn.” Lots of dogs in agility struggle because they depend so much on the handler to tell them what to do. I think of my dog and me as a team—we both put out the same amount of work. The dog puzzles I use are various exercises that teach the dog how to problem solve and work through various puzzles. One of my favorite puzzles to use is “How Do I Get Out?” I put my dog in an ex-pen and then open up a different exit from the way I put him in, so he has to find the way out. But the way out isn’t the same as the way I put him in, so he has to figure out the puzzle. After I have opened up the other exit (or a friend has opened it) I just go sit down; I do not call the dog or try to coax him out. At first the alternate exit is right next to where I put the dog in so he can find the way out pretty fast. Next I start moving the exit to a different spot each time. This teaches the dog how to work through problems without the owner babying him. For those who use ex-pens during trials, I use a different ex-pen during puzzle time from the one I use at a trial or make it look different in some way (hang a sheet on it and so on). I start doing the doggy puzzles with my dogs from about 9 to 10 weeks of age until forever! My young dog Try loves puzzle time. Puzzles have taught her how to work out problems and not completely depend on me to baby her through everything. That skill comes in handy on those tough Open- and Elite-level courses so it is an excellent foundation skill to have. Next month we’ll discuss Open-level challenges for your team. D The Novice level is a great start for building a solid foundation in your contact training. Because the courses are very nice and flowing, you can work on your contacts from various handling positions and distances. Dog/Handler Relationship In the early stages of my dog’s agility career I also work on the relationship between myself and my dog. I do a lot of clicker training, target training, and relationship-building exercises so that we have a strong bond before ever entering the agility ring. All handlers have a bond with their dog; they love their dog and their dog loves them. But I am describing more of a “working bond,” a respect between handler and dog. I teach all my dogs respect for my boundaries, and I learn what their boundaries are and respect them. When I start talking about this in my seminars you can see everyone looking at each other and thinking, “Oh man, her Amanda Nelson has been competing in agility for 18 years and has earned a total of 21 NADAC NATCHs and won 3 NADAC Championships. Her BC Chance had been Top Dog of the Year for three years straight. Amanda travels around the world teaching agility and canine massage seminars, traveling as far as Australia and Japan. Amanda offers NADAC Instructor Certification programs and agility correspondence courses from her website at www.fluidmotionagility.com 36 Clean Run | June 07

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Clean Run Magazine - June 2007

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