Clean Run - July 2018 - 47

In which of these should the dog
wrap the pole and in which should
he go through the gap?

Things to remember:
* Dog training is a direct equation,
what you put in is what you'll get out.
If you're feeling tired or miserable,
have a rest. Don't associate a miserable handler with weave poles! Train
when you have the energy and enthusiasm to give.
* When training poles, it's important to
keep raising criteria and not get stuck
in the same place. Keep a record of
where you end each training session
so you know where you were.
* Making mistakes is okay. Try to reset
the dog, not take a step backward.
Dogs need the freedom to explore
the reward parameters, so your success rate should be at about 80%. If
you have an entirely successful session, it's time to move on!

A straight-line entry is dramatically
different from an entry presented
from an angle. Be patient and work
slowly, building on success.

got it wrong. My daughter Kris came up
with an excellent idea, which was to stick
a Post-it note on the Ready Treat to act
as a flag so Dexi can see when it is open.
This worked well and, in fact, proved
to be the missing part of the puzzle for
Dexi. He made fairly rapid progress from
there. After a few attempts, I used electrical tape rather than a Post-it as it's more
durable. Having got our reward system
sorted, I progressed to a straighter approach for him, and he's doing well.

Contacts
Shady is up to a full height dogwalk,
which is 4ft., 6in in the UK. I was worried
about putting it up to full height, but he

The Ready Treat helped
with Dexi's weave pole
training.

surprised me and had no problems with
it. Watching video of him running across
the dogwalk, I can see that a foot slips
off about one in seven tries. I still have
hoops at the beginning and end to allow him to concentrate on nothing but
running across the planks.
Looking at him, I've decided to stop him
on the dogwalk as I think a running dogwalk is too much to ask of a dog of his
size. To successfully compete with a running dogwalk, the dog needs to be able
to adjust his stride and lead for a left or
right turn, and he also needs to drive at
speed. I'll continue running him to allow
his confidence to build and for him to
hopefully develop a method of running

* Have a good look at the weave poles
yourself. Make sure you understand
exactly what you are asking your dog
to attempt and bear that in mind
during your training.
For Dexi, weave pole training was more
problematic because I can't mark the
correct behavior due to his deafness. In
the end, I used a Ready Treat for him. I put
the Ready Treat close to the poles so that
he didn't have to go all the way out, only
to discover it was still closed because he

Shady looks good here, his
focus |is forward, and all
paws are under control.

Shady needs to settle down into
a pattern that demonstrates his
confidence and understanding. The
camera caught this just before the paw
that's in the air missed the dogwalk.

Making mistakes is okay. Try to reset the dog, not take a step backward.
Dogs need the freedom to explore the reward parameters, so your success rate
should be at about 80%. If you have an entirely successful session, it's time to move on!
July 18 | Clean Run

47
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - July 2018
