Parallel to My Lane (Side by Side) When my dog and I are moving parallel with each other, it is a physical cue to go straight. Think of a multi-lane freeway. Your dog is in lane one on the straight-a-way. Now imagine yourself in lane two. That is a comfortable and common parallel distance for most teams. I teach my dogs that as long as I am paralleling their path, I can travel in any lane I want. As soon as I'm out of our "normal" range (which includes more lanes than most teams), I run with my arm out. This reminds the dog to "stay in your own lane over there." This is not just handling. I teach it by slowly creating lateral space very early on in training. I use planted reinforcement, throwing rewards into the dog's lane, or sending the dog to a mark bucket. 4 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8 Note: I do avoid being in serp position on jumps when I layer them 7 6 60 Parallel to My Lane (Side by Side) This dog has been trained to go straight when the handler's path is paralleling the dog's path. The green numbers show how many lanes over this handler can be (seven). The dog is so well trained to go straight that he will not take the jumps the handler will layer. Consider the green arrow -as the dog exits the weave poles, what obstacle is straight in front of him? My dog would need an "Out" command when his nose was at pole 12 if I wanted the tunnel. Know thy cues and thy dog. Clean Run | June 20