Clean Run - June 2011 - 69

must have some sort of definition of what the behavior is going to be before you begin. Discussion groups on the Internet spend a lot of time trying to define in writing just what the behavior should be called. Is it a canter, a gallop, a transverse gallop, a rotary gallop, or what? But the important thing in my mind is not what you call the behavior, but what it looks like. Your definition can be a visual one rather than a written one. Rather than trying to define what you should call the behavior you want for your contacts, spend as much time as you can watching videos of other handlers who have posted their training videos on the web. Educate your eyes to see what nonrewardable and rewardable behaviors look like. After all, when you are training your dog, you won’t care what the behavior is called. You will, however, care about whether or not you can properly reward that behavior. Your ability to see and assess in an instant whether or not you should reward what your dog is doing will be vital, and the more you can train your eyes before working with your dog, the better.

Learn from the mistakes as well as the successes of others. I have a YouTube channel (www.youtube. com/user/cflyrun) that contains many videos of Solar’s training process and many of those videos are edited to show rewardable as well as nonrewardable behaviors, so you can get an idea of what you’d like to see, as well as what you don’t want to see. A search for running contacts on YouTube yields dozens of videos, some good, some bad. As you watch videos of dogs and handlers on the Internet to get an idea of what you want your dog’s running contacts to look like, ask the following questions to help develop your ideas about what you’d like your dog to do:

· ·

What cues, if any, will you give your dog to engage in the desired behavior? Will your cues be verbal, or will the dog’s existence on the contact be sufficient to cue the behavior? How will you deal with turns after the contacts? Will you train your dog to respond to turning cues while on the contact, or will you do the bulk of your handling on the flat after the contact?

· ·

Where will the behavior start? Where will your dog be on the contact when he is committed to the desired behavior? Where will the behavior end? On the board? After the board? One, two, or three strides after the board?

As with any training, you as the trainer have responsibilities to maintain your end of the bargain you make with your dog. With running contacts, your training may be a process that continues to be refined over the course of several months or years, while you and your dog learn how to work as a team together.

The Break-able Treat

crunch-eze
n

200 treats ... 800 rewards*
Healthy and nutritious made by Simply pAwesome in USA n All natural & organic ingredients n Rich in antioxidants
*Based on 8 oz bag and each treat breaks into 4 pieces.
TM

health snacks for dogs

Mention code CR501 - Offer good through July 2011

Get Free shipping and 10% off

www.simplypawesome.com
June 11 | Clean Run 69

http://www.youtube.com/user/cflyrun http://www.youtube.com/user/cflyrun http://www.simplypawesome.com http://www.stinemanawards.com http://www.stinemanawards.com http://www.simplypawesome.com

Clean Run - June 2011

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