Clean Run - June 2019 - 32

If Your Dog Ignores Your "Close" Cue

Weight Shift

If my dog "steals" a tunnel when I'm
working on my "Close" cue, I just freeze
and stare down at my leg where I expect my dog to be. I don't yell or give
another command. My dog may take
the tunnel again, or even run around
a bit the first few times, but he will
eventually end up where I am looking
for him to be-at my leg. I congratulate
the dog (I do not reward) and show him
the toy or cookie that he has forfeited
as I say in a dead pan voice "you missed
this." Then I restart the sequence.

One common reason that a dog will
pull off a tunnel is the handler shifting
weight backward. This is one of those
things you can identify with video
review.

I will let the dog make this mistake up
to five times before I add some space
between us and the tunnel to make
the task easier. When the dog gets it
right, I throw a party at my leg.
Giving Explicit Permission to
Take a Tunnel
The flip side to all this control needs to
be thoroughly understood. If we say
to the dogs, "you can't take tunnels
whenever you want," we promise the
dogs that we will be clear when we do
want them to take a tunnel, every tunnel. Now you are obligated to be mindful and consistent. No more letting
the dog take tunnels without explicit
permission, even if the tunnel is the
correct next obstacle in the sequence.
With my dogs, permission means me
running at the tunnel while saying
"Tunnel!" We'll talk more about cueing tunnels later on in "Tips for Using
Physical and Verbal Tunnel Cues."

Refusals
If you have never pulled a dog off a
tunnel, you have not been training
very long. It happens to everyone, and
there is nothing worse than nailing a
difficult course and then pulling your
dog off of the tunnel. I have seen more
baffled and frustrated handlers react
to this than anything else, "How could
he? He was headed right for it!" Rest
assured, before you get mad at the
poor beast, you did do something to
cause it. The "something" might only
be able to be determined by video review or the something was unusual for
your dog, but it was still something.

I am amazed at the power of a handler's weight shift, both forward and
back. I learned a lot from an experiment I did with my tunnel-lovin' Jack
Russell Quilly. I ran hard at the tunnel,
repeating my "Tunnel" verbal command, and then shifted my weight
back as I continued to run toward the
tunnel. I was blown away at how little
of a weight shift backward it took for a
well-trained dog to pull off the tunnel.
I realized then how well trained my deceleration cue was. I rely on that decel
cue in a big way many places on the
course. I do not want to undermine it;
I want to protect and strengthen it.
That lesson had an unforgettable impact on my teaching. If you keep your
weight forward and keep your focus
on the path to the tunnel, the dog will
go in. If you shift your weight back,
even a little bit, and they understand
decel, you may get a refusal. It is good
to have a dog that will respect a decel
cue on the way to a tunnel. Never be
mad about that! Always honor and
protect your decel cue.
When Refusals Happen
In training drills and sequence and
course work, anytime you pull your
dog off of a tunnel get him into that
tunnel immediately. You have one
second to get this done. Do not go
back to the beginning of the sequence
and try again-get the dog in! Running away from it to try again won't
make the critical point to the dog
that he needs to do the tunnel when
you cue him. Do not have a party for
unwanted pull-offs, no matter why it
happened. Get him in and have the
party when the dog comes out of the
tunnel. Make this practice a habit.
My tips for physical and verbal directional cues will help decrease refusals
tremendously.

Tips for Using Physical and
Verbal Tunnel Cues
Remember, now that you have taught
your dog that he needs to have permission to take tunnels, you are obligated to be mindful and consistent
when you cue each tunnel.
I give my tunnel and directional cues
in two ways: verbally and physically.
I separate these cues in training to
strengthen them individually. I always
combine them when I compete and
do sequence and course work.
Here are the key elements for getting
the most out of each.
Physical Cues to Cue the Entrance
I use these physical cues when directing my dog to do a tunnel:

* I set the line to the correct end of

the tunnel as many obstacles ahead
as I can.

* I drive the line hard, meaning I

move at the same rate of speed
(not necessarily super-fast) with my
weight forward.

* I know if a particular tunnel requires

my arm to be up or down. In general, if the tunnel is lateral to me, my
arm is up; if I am behind my dog, I
am pumping my arms to help me run.

Physical Cues to Cue Direction
on Exit
Having your dog turn the way you
want him to as he exits the tunnel
requires training and consistency in
handling. Following are physical cues
that can influence which way the dog
turns when he exits a tunnel.

* Decelerating (decel cue): Deceler-

ating sharply just before your dog
goes into the tunnel is a great way to
create a tight turn back to you when
he exits, but the dog has to see the
cue for it to be reliable. You might get
lucky sometimes decelerating from
behind, but you won't get reliable
responses that you can count on. It
is difficult always to know the exact
proximity of dog to tunnel and handler to the dog that will create success from behind. Deceleration and

Clean Run | June 19

Clean Run - June 2019

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