Clean Run - February 2018 - 65

Set up near jump #2 on an angle to #1.
Send your dog to jump #1 and move
forward with him. Reward your dog for
driving over jump #1.

Send your dog to #1 and move forward.
When you feel your dog has intent to take
#1, pull away while still supporting the
jump. Reward the dog's commitment to #1.

Send your dog to #1. When he has intent to take #2, move into serpentine position. Reward your dog either for
committing to #2 and driving to you (blue handler) or for finishing the serpentine and driving to your side (green handler).

as close as 10 feet or much farther
apart)
1. Stand with your dog near the
jump #2 in the 180 on an angled
approach to jump #1. Send your
dog to jump #1 and move forward
with him. Reward your dog for
driving forward over the first jump
as shown in Figure 9a.
2. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you
have created enough "intent" (impulsion) to jump #1 that you would
bet $100 that your dog will drive to
that jump without any hesitation.
3. In this step you will reward your
dog for committing to jump #1
while you are moving away to get
into your next position-which, in
this case, is serpentine position.
Set up to do the exercise again.
Send your dog to #1 and start to
move forward. Then with your arm
still supporting your dog, pull away
and move toward serpentine position as shown in Figure 9b. Throw
the toy to reward your dog's commitment to jump #1-don't wait
February 18 | Clean Run

for him to actually take the jump;
reward him for deciding to take it.
4. Begin in the same position. Send
your dog to jump #1 and start to
move forward. With your arm still
supporting your dog, pull away
and move toward serpentine position. When your dog has intent
to take #2, move into serpentine
position as in Figure 9c. Reward
your dog either for committing to
jump #2 and driving to you (blue
handler) or for finishing the serpentine and driving to your side
(green handler).
5. Remember to work the mirror image of the drill so that you train your
dog on your other side as well.
Troubleshooting
* Even in distance work you still
need to support your dog properly with the correct amount of
impulsion. That being said, if you
are not mobile enough to do so,
you can also use a verbal "Go!"
cue if you have trained it.

* If your dog is pulling off #1 when
you start to move to your next position, the primary cause is probably lack of support and impulsion. Often we are so concerned
about getting to the next handling
position that we don't support the
send enough, or we decelerate
as the dog is going to jump #1,
preparing prematurely to leave
to get to the next position. You
want to keep your focus on jump
#1 as you start to move, and you
want to move at a constant pace.
I suggest you video tape your
training so that you can objectively look at what is going on.
* If lack of support or impulsion is
not the problem, then you can
move the jumps closer together
and then move them back apart
gradually. Add distance as you
have success. If your dog still
won't move away from you as
well as you would like, then you
need to go back and strengthen
your single-jump work.
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - February 2018