Clean Run - March 2013 - 31

You can begin working this with the closed-base plunger
set up 20' away from the plank and table-top setup. The key
thing you want your dog to understand is that even though
you move away from him, his job is to keep working his arc
effectively. We introduced this concept to our dogs during
the closed-base flatwork in Part 1, where we proofed through
weight shift, lateral motion, and rotation.
Stand between the plungers and the plank. Send your dog to
the plungers and start moving at a walk toward the plank. If he
leaves the plungers up while your motion is away from him,
reward by tossing your toy on the line between the plungers
and plank. Once the dog has done this a few times, you can
include the plank and reward by throwing your toy beyond the
table. Always look over your shoulder to keep an eye on your
dog, and make sure he is keeping the plungers up, so that you
are rewarding the right thing.
Now that your dog can handle the peel-away with you at a
walk, you can start proofing by adding more speed to your
motion away from them. First try the exercise at a jog, and
then finally at a run.
Putting It All Together
Now that your dog has an understanding of how to keep the
closed-base or open -base plungers upright with the plank and
your peel-away motion, you can get begin to get rid of the distance between the plungers and the plank. When you have
success with the plungers 20' away, decrease the distance to
15' and work through the same progression you did at 20'.
Once your dog understands that, try it with the plungers 10'
away and repeat the progression. The closer the plungers
get, the more tempting it will be for your dog to try to slice
through his arc to get to the plank faster. At each progres-

sion, help him understand that a well-executed arc is the
key that opens the door to taking the plank. In no time,
your dog will be working with the closed-base or open-base
setup at the edge of the plank.

The A-frame
The progressions for teaching horizontal arc on the entry of
the dogwalk can be applied to the A-frame. When you try
this training with the A-frame, you can either work one that
is full size, if that’s where you are in your training, or drop
the A-frame down so it’s low to the ground.
The same plunger setup applies. Start working tight
curves first with the plungers 20' away from the A-frame
ramp and reward the dog for keeping them up. Then proof
through motion. Finally, decrease the distance of the
plungers until the apex is slightly ahead of the start of the
ramp. By keeping the plunger slightly ahead, we help teach
the dog that the bend occurs slightly off the obstacle, not
directly on it. Progressions of curve work the same way
as they did for the dogwalk—once your dog is proofed
through the tight turn, then work the softer turn with the
open-base plunger setup, work through the proofing of motion again, and decrease the distance between the plungers
and the obstacle.
The End Is The Beginning
This article brings us to the end of the “Head-Turning
Turns” series, but hopefully the adventure is just beginning!
I hope you enjoy working the progressions and watching
your dogs put it together as much as I do. Look forward to
seeing those safer, faster bends over jumps and onto contacts at a trial soon! D

Jenni Shelegy has been training dogs for 20 years. She is the owner of Jenni Shelegy’s Holistic Dog Training in Ontario, which specializes in private lessons and seminars
for family dog owners and agility competitors. She competes in agility with her 3-year-old Border Collie, Quasar. When she’s not training dogs, she is a Vet Tech student,
working toward RVT certification and a specialization in emergency medicine. She can be contacted by email through her website: www.jennishelegy.com

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