Clean Run - June 2011 - 13

2
Small Dogs
4' 4' 4' 6'

Large Dogs
6' 6'

Jump bars are set low at 4" to 8", and depending on the dogs' size, 4' to 6' apart.

For the clicker savvy or operantly trained dogs, simply wait for the dog to offer to go through the uprights. Mark and reward low. Start with your hands in your lap. Once the dog offers to go over the jump, mark it and move your hand to just in front of your knee. With the back of your hand touching the ground, allow the dog to take the treat from your now open hand (indicated by the green asterisk in the diagram). Return your hands to your lap and wait for the dog to offer to go back over the jump. I find one of the keys at this early stage is to keep the dog on the takeoff side of the jump until he offers to go through the uprights, so I give him a gentle nudge back if he tries to cut between me and the jump upright. If your dog is not accustomed to offering behaviors you may lure him over the jump a time or two, but if he still resists offering to pass through the uprights without a lure then I suggest returning to the foundation operant training and interacting with objects exercises presented in the first two articles. You might also try the next jumping exercise presented here and then return to this exercise in a future session. The danger of luring in this exercise is the dog may be too focused on your lure and not on what he is doing, leading to knocked bars. The second problem with luring is that the dog’s head is up, looking at the lure, leading to improper form. The third problem with luring is the dog may tend to view the lure as a cue and he may be hesitant to offer the jump without the lure, which can obstruct his learning. For the dog that is readily offering to go back and forth, you can start to raise the bar in small increments. Mark as the dog clears the bar and reward low. Work toward getting the treat in position after he clears the bar but before he gets to the ground to encourage the head to be low. You may begin to roll the treat out of your hand onto the ground as long as the treat is visible to the dog. Work toward getting into standing position. Exercise 2 For most dogs the simplest way to introduce a jump is put them on the takeoff side and put something they like, a motivational object, on the landing side. Before you do this, however, you need to work with the dog to go forward to a motivational object, either a toy and a resulting tug game, or a container of food the dog is taught to touch and then a treat
June 11 | Clean Run

Backchain the grid, starting at the last jump. Place the motivator at your feet. Work up doing all four jumps.
4

Look back at the dog over your shoulder and then release him to take the jumps and get the motivator.

is delivered from the container. See last month’s article if you need a refresher on this work. Once this skill is in place I like to use a modified version of Susan Salo’s basic jump grid to encourage the dog to interact with the jumps. Set up four jumps in a straight line. Space them 4' apart for small dogs or 6' apart for medium to larger dogs as seen in Figure 2. Set the bars low, between 4"-8". Place the dog in a sit-stay on the takeoff side of the last jump in the grid. Step over the jump, turn and face the dog, and place the motivator (represented by the green asterisk in the diagram) at your feet as shown in Figure 3. Invite the dog to come over the low jump and either get the toy and engage in tug game, or touch the food container and get a treat. Next take the dog and position him so he will do two jumps to get to you and his motivator. If successful, try three jumps, then all four. Once the dog can do all four jumps, you’re going to walk along the outside of the grid after you leave the dog in a sitstay rather than through the middle. When you recall the dog, you’ll stand just to the right or left of the center of the jumps. Start by walking up the left side of the grid. Facing the same direction as your dog, your back to him, place the motivator just to the right of your feet and directly in line with the jumps as shown in Figure 4. The motivator is there to encourage the dog to maintain proper head position while he’s jump13

Clean Run - June 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - June 2011