Clean Run - February 2018 - 58

Distance Jump Training
for any Dog, Part 2
By Stacy Winkler, photo by Frank Barnhart

Whenever I give seminars the topic
of clingy dogs always comes up.
I hear laments such as "My dog
won't work away from me, he's definitely a Velcro dog" or "My dog is
always staring at me. He won't take
his eyes off me. He looks back over
every jump and won't go on!" At
which point I pull out my standard
reply, "There is no such thing as a
Velcro dog. There are simply dogs
that haven't been taught to work at
a distance."
Absolutely any dog can be taught
to work away from his handler! It
doesn't matter how focused the dog
is on you or how much he stares at
you over every obstacle. You can
overcome that with clear, methodical, well-rewarded behaviors.
In my jumping instruction online
and in person, as students continue
to advance their distance skills we
also work on tight-turn skills. Training always needs to be balanced-
I want my dog to be confident
working at a distance, driving his
lines, and running boldly forward
without checking in, but it's equally
important that he can focus on me
when required and be stellar at
58

tight sequences and with me handling practically on top of him. This
series of articles is focusing on distance work only, so please be sure
that you are working your tight-turn
skills as well as your distance.
Note: If you haven't already perfected the drills in last month's article,
please go back and do that work
before trying these exercises. All the
exercises are designed to be done
in a progression. If the skills we covered last month are weak, then you
will struggle as we go on.

Drill 3: Foundation for Distance
Lead-outs
This drill teaches your dog to look
for his line when you lead out,
whether you are near him or quite
a long distance away. An additional
bonus to this drill is that you will be
creating a solid, fun, reward-laden
start-line routine-one that you will
use in practice as well as when you
trial. The routine will help establish
continuity and confidence as you
switch between your home field and
other locations.
For many dogs the start line is a
place of a great deal of stress. Often

there is a ton of failure associated
with it, and trainers tend to get very
strict and stern when asking for a
controlled behavior. Don't fall into
this trap! You should create and
maintain your start-line solidity with
a ton of fun and reinforcement. If
you look realistically at your training
and find that you have been corrective and made the start line an area
with more punishers than reinforcement, this is a great time to change
that pattern. As you train, always
keep this thought in your head: your
start line should be just as fun as
any other obstacle in agility. Reinforce it a ton, keep your criteria
clear, and ask for your controlled
position in a dynamic and fun way.
Let giving your stay cue in a demotivating, stern way-Sit!-go the way
of the dinosaurs.
Pre-requisite
In order to do this drill, your dog
must have great value for a thrown
toy-a toy that he loves! It can be a
food-stuffable toy or any toy that you
can throw. We discussed building
drive for a thrown toy in the first article. If your dog's drive isn't strong
yet, then wait to dog this training.
Clean Run | February 18
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - February 2018
