Clean Run - June 2017 - 35

bal cues are cues the dog can hear, like directional
commands (come, go, dog's name, left, right, hook,
turn, wrap, switch) and obstacle commands (poles,
weave, climb, scramble, hup, jump, table, and the
like). Physical cues are delivered by a handler that is
either moving or stationary: running, slowing, stopping, foot cues, hand and arm cues, and direction of
movement-anything the dog should be watching
for, instead of listening to.
* The difference between extended and collected
jumping: In a nutshell, if the dog takes off (leaves
the ground) way before the jump, soars through the
air like a gazelle, and lands on basically the moon, he
just jumped in "extension." If the dog runs right up
to the jump, slams on the brakes in order to twist his
body tightly around the jump stanchion, and lands
super close to the jump, he jumped in "collection."
Dogs have to add strides in order to collect. Watch
some video or get someone to show you. You have
to understand collection in order to teach it and you
have to teach it to stay on course and to have your
dog use his body well. Much incentive!
* Where your dog's focus is: Where your dog is focusing, his focal point, is critical in jump training. So is
yours! You can manipulate your reward placement to
get the dog focusing where he should be.

General Practice Guidelines
* Don't always start the drill with a sit-stay-it can
be really de-motivating for some dogs. Instead,
start some drills with the dog standing with your
hand in his collar (hope you remembered to teach
him to love that!), then just let go and run with the
dog. When doing this, you and the dog may need
to start at a slight angle to the jump so that you
can run straight and not have to negotiate yourself
around the standard or wing of the jump, because
that would change the dog's line. You are setting a
straight line each time.
* Work a hungry dog. He might be hungry for food or
exercise or being with you!
* Strive to achieve an 80% success rate while you train.
A 20% failure rate is not bad; don't be afraid of mistakes! Only be afraid of how you act when mistakes
happen, yours and the dogs! Be mellow, you are
teaching; it is sacred ground. You will need to push to
the point of error on occasion to see where you are in
the training process.
* Keep sessions short and sweet. No, I don't know. Your
dog will tell you! You only have to listen to him or her.
Bars dropping are a telltale sign of fatigue.
* When teaching something new, it is ideal if the dog
sees the exercise every day, even if it's for just a
couple of minutes or repetitions. If you are trying to
teach something new only once a week, you have
June 17 | Clean Run

my sympathies. Sorry, it is just really hard to make
progress at that rate.
* Think of all the drills as a "don't touch the bar" game.
The first objective is for the dog to not to touch
the bar. Don't reward any knocked bar, even when
tempted when the dog gets another element correct;
it is just too confusing for the dog.

Jump Around the Clock (JAC) Drills
Introduction
I did not invent JAC. I would suspect that many, many trainers have used it for years. What is important is that you
understand how important it is. This drill is what I consider
a "back-to-kindergarten" drill, meaning I go back to it, or
some version of it, often. I use JAC as a foundation training
drill, early on in the jump training (week one). I also use JAC
immediately if my dog turns the wrong way during course
and sequence work. I use JAC at every practice jump before
every run at every show.
I pretty much love JAC for reminding the dog of one critical basic skill: when I send you to a jump, you need to mind
which side of my body I have sent you from, as that information is what I want you to use to decide which way to turn.
The drill solidifies the basic, oh-so-key lesson of "which way
do I turn, Momma?"
What you need to know: when your dog is sent to a jump his
default should be to turn into you, meaning if you send him
from your left side he should turn right and if you send him
from your right side he should turn left. I want my dog to
understand this no matter how far I am from the jump.
The trouble is this: even dogs that totally understand the
concept will eventually, through normal course handling,
start to question the lesson. That happens for two reasons:
1. We will often decelerate on approach to a jump in
order to create space for our dog to pass us just before we execute a rear cross. When we do that, we are
frequently in the same place we might be on another
day when we want to send the dog to the jump and
have him turn in the opposite direction (toward us,
instead of away from us on the rear cross). For good,
logical reasons the dogs just get mixed up when
we are not close the jump. This is a good reason for
you to look back at my latest rear cross article and to
look forward to the rear cross drills coming up in this
series. It is also a good reason to add verbal cues to
your handling when you are behind your dog.
2. Many of our turn cues are done close to the jump; in
fact, I don't know about you, but my first choice of
where I want to be when I execute a turn cue is close
enough to the jump stanchion to kiss it (or at least
reach out and touch it!). Sometimes I get to be there,
but lots of times I can't be. I'm not getting any younger and my dogs seem to be speeding up. I need cues
that work no matter where I am.
35

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - June 2017