Clean Run - October 2011 - 3

Cover
THE MAGAZINE FOR DOG AGILITY ENTHUSIASTS
PHOTOS © CHRIS OTT / SPEEDDOGGIE, MEGUMI NAYUKI, LESLEY MATTUCHIO, WWW.PBASE.COM/LESLEYLOU

OCTOBER 11

VOLUME 17

NUMBER 10

28
Fit to Be Tricked: Bowling Bowling is a coordination skill and it also works on neck strength and flexibility. Bowling helps dogs learn not to stress about falling objects and other sudden movements. It’s also a lot of fun for both dog and handler, and lends itself well to group play. By Frankie Sassie Joiris

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Agility in Japan from an American Perspective Marianne Uppal is likely the only agility competitor in the world who has obtained both an AKC MACH and a Japan Kennel Club agility championship on the same dog, so she’s in a unique position to compare agility in the two countries. By Brenna Fender

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Treats Over Toys Many people have been told their dogs must tug with a toy if they are going to do agility. If you have a dog that is already highly motivated, you may be able to get more thinking and learning during a training session by using treats. Learn why one handler chooses treats over toys. By Amanda Nelson

11 But... He’s Perfect in Training! Using the Power of Premack in Agility Training By using the Premack principle, once our dogs are trained in their obstacle performance we can decrease our use of food and toys to reward contacts, start lines, and tables. We can then use other more desirable agility activities as reinforcers for these less desirable agility activities we ask of our dogs. By Rachel Sanders

Features
5 Editorializing: Considering the Triple Jump Some handlers consider the triple jump to be “unsafe.” But the triple is actually one of the most clearly presented jumps offered to the dog on any given course. It is clearly graduated and, as such, demonstrates to the dogs the effort required of them. This is, of course, provided the dog actually sees the jump! By Susan Salo 55 Ready, Set, Trial! Trial Etiquette Call it what you will—etiquette, manners, sportsmanship, or plain common courtesy— here are some suggestions to make everyone’s experience at trials a better one. By Jamie McKay, CPDT KA 58 Challenges for Rising Stars This month’s exercises focus on jumping gymnastics. Generally, we describe jumping gymnastics as having a course set up in such a way to expose the dog to a variety of different jumping patterns with different distances between the obstacles. By Stuart Mah

22 Improving Your Sports Vision, Part 2 Keeping visual contact with your dog is perhaps even more important than perfecting how you do a front cross, rear cross, or any other maneuver. This month you’ll work on some exercises to improve your peripheral awareness on course and your tracking ability. By Daisy Peel 44 Challenges at CR Central The Challenger Round is arguably the most exciting of any round at the AKC Nationals. The winner of each jump height is awarded the last remaining spot in the finals. Inspiration for these drills came from a section of the 2011 AKC Nationals Challenger Round course designed by Bob Long. By Annie Pyle 49 Teaching FOCUS and Impulse-control Classes: Week 6 Three of this week’s exercises—offered focus, recalls, and mat work—involve raising criteria to get more enthusiastic responses from our dogs. We’ll also add two new exercises this week: the fold-back down and the spin. By Deborah Jones, PhD

15 Commonsense Tug Training Tug play is a wonderful form of training when used safely and in balance with your dog. For both you and the dog it improves tness, is very reinforcing, and gives a wonderful structure to the dog’s learning. The game is about balance, mirroring movement, and learning together. By Kay Laurence 34 Six Ways to Handle a 270 Learn how to teach your dog to take the second jump of a 270 without your helping him every time as well as six di erent ways that you can handle a 270 on course. By Sandy Rogers 52 Correctly Using Foodstuffable Toys to Create Toy Drive Many people use food toys in a manner that is actually working against what they are trying to achieve. Learn how to use these toys in a way that will increase the dog’s toy drive so that you can get more intensity, speed, and drive in your training. By Laura Manchester Derrett

Columns
6 7 8 Tip of the Month By Sue McGinty Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Agility… By Brenna Fender Backyard Dogs By Mary Ellen Barry

41 Agility Bloopers By Brenna Fender

Cover Dog
CH MACH Eastlake I’m Going to Hollywood, NF, a.k.a. Brazen, a 4-yearold Parson Russell Terrier owned by Susan Jaffe of New York and handled by Arlene Spooner. Photo by M. Nicole Fischer Photography.

Clean Run (ISSN 1089-8506) is published monthly by Clean Run Productions, LLC. Principal o ce: 17 Industrial Dr., South Hadley, MA 01075. Periodicals postage paid at South Hadley, Massachusetts 01075-9902 and additional o ces. © Copyright 1995-2011 Bud Houston and Clean Run Productions, LLC. All world rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Clean Run, 17 Industrial Dr., South Hadley, MA 01075.

October 11 | Clean Run

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Clean Run - October 2011

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