Clean Run - February 2016 - 13

allow you to do the proper training you are better o to lure
the behavior than to try many of the Bandaid approaches such
as leaning back, blocking the dog, putting your arm across the
contact, or anything else that requires you to be there when
you can't be. Conditioning the dog to run to food on a target
will have better results than desperately trying something new
every week to get the behavior. It just runs the risk of the dog
being stymied when he doesn't see his cookie there.

A Word on Competition
In competition do not ignore an unwanted performance. e
exception may be with a timid or "so " dog. Verbally mark the
error and go on; hopefully you will have another contact for

the dog to perform so that he can tell you if he "got the message" or not. If he blows a second contact, you may consider
leaving the ring. Leaving is never my rst choice as I usually
have other sh I want to fry on any given course. If your dog
is continuing to fail, you will have to come to grips with the
fact that it is likely you have not trained him well enough, or
done enough of the proper maintenance work so you just have
some more training to do. If you decide to retrain your contact
obstacle performance, it would be best to not enter trials while
you re-train to avoid asking your dog for a new performance
before it is trained well and therefore confusing him further.
Enjoy your contact work, let your dog ask you the questions he
has, and always be prepared to answer him!

Teaching a Two-On/Two-Off Contact
Following are some of the exercises that are an integral part of my two-on/two-o training.
Opposition Re�ex Exercise: Don't Move Your Front Feet

Teaching your dog to not move his feet while in a stay will help to keep him from experimenting with where to put his feet when
he's stopped on a contact and also keep his position straight. i s is a large piece of the comprehension puzzle and can be taught
quickly and easily at home. Dogs that love to "tap dance," will take longer!
Start with your palm at on the dog's shoulder, ngers pointing down (A). Keep steady, so pressure on your palm and praise your
dog with a so slow voice to mirror your so slow motion. Slowly slide your hand down to just below the dog's elbow (B). Push gently
on the spot just below the elbow for 1 second; just enough to feel the dog push back against you, then let the pressure o without taking your ngers o the dog. If he moves you pushed too hard, no matter how so ly you pushed. Take your time. Work up to being
able to push harder and harder in 1-second intervals, always maintaining contact with the dog. is will teach your dog to really push
his front feet into the ground on his stay work. Keep your cookies behind your back (C) to avoid the dog wanting to move toward
them. Reward quickly straight out in front of the dog and then just as quickly return your hand to its position behind your back.
Reward o en, but not so much as to cause the dog to move. Use your voice to reward more o en than cookies.
your voice anytime you need to remind your dog not to move his feet in the future.

en you can use

To see a short video clip of the Great Dane performing the dogwalk,
go to https://youtu.be/QgogBqiaNO0 or go to the Clean Run
magazine YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/CleanRunMagazine)
and select the February 2016 play list.

February 16 | Clean Run

http://www.youtube.com/user/CleanRunMagazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - February 2016