Clean Run - July 2018 - 16

are "in play," we want our dogs to ignore us
and perform the obstacles independently.

or two to flawlessly execute contacts or weave poles. And then, you want him to repeat
that challenge over and over until the course is finished. What a tall order!

Because you are moving or speaking in
some fashion at the same time that you
are giving the dog your intentional verbal
or physical cues, those movements and
words will start to become unintentional
cues. The unintentional cues will then
become relevant to the dog's performance,
often undermining it. Our dogs are
brilliant at putting two and two together
(pun intended). They draw conclusions
routinely throughout their lives, so you
must expect this process to happen as you
train agility. Much of what you are doing
as you handle will raise new questions for
the dog-questions that did not come up
in the initial stages of the training because
the picture is so different during handling
than it was during training. So the initial
training we did doesn't hold up on its own.

My maintenance program concentrates on reminding dogs where and when to focus,
teaching them they should ignore the handler when they are cued to do the contacts (and
weaves). As any handling program gets more intricate, this job can get harder for the dog
to understand, requiring more maintenance. Think of a competitive skier. Those folks
do plenty of skiing to become skilled, but they are also following a program to maintain
each skill and all of the physical strengthening and conditioning needed to be good
skiers. They are not trying to do it all just by skiing. I don't think we should be trying
to maintain all the skills our dogs need (us too for that matter) while doing sequence
and coursework. Sequence and coursework are best for getting the agility team in sync.

Think of it like this: You are asking your
dog to understand that as you handle
a course you want him to pay strict
attention to you for a few seconds during
a jumping sequence, then you want him
to completely ignore you for just a second

Rewarding During Sequence and Coursework..............................................................
For more than two decades, I have taught my students that they can maintain the 2-on/2off training via sequence and coursework. Re-thinking how I had been rewarding the
position during sequence and coursework became an essential part of my process. The
conclusion I reached was painful for me to embrace because I had to tell my students
that we needed to make some big changes. I no longer believe that the behavior can be
maintained just by rewarding it during sequence and coursework.
Let me be very clear before I continue here. If you can only train in a class that focuses
on sequence and coursework (as most higher-level classes must), and you can't find the
time to do any isolated contact maintenance training, then you absolutely must continue
to reward your dog's 2-on/2-off performance during sequence and coursework, although,
I can help you reward more effectively. But, if you can embrace this idea of separate ongoing maintenance work, you may be able to get your behavior strong enough that you
do not have to reward during sequence and coursework nearly as much as before, if at all.

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