Clean Run Magazine - August 2008 - 46

Food or Tug? For a high-drive dog you should use food as much as possible, rather then relying on a tug toy to keep his attention on you. Food has a calming effect on dogs (which may explain why many dogs that are exclusively food trained often will not run agility as fast as they chase a squirrel). Tugging, on the other hand, tends to arouse an already high-drive dog. However, for many high-drive dogs, tugging carries a higher reinforcement value than food. You can build the value of the food by making any tug session dependent on the dog eating a cookie first. Balance is the key. Work on tug games some of the time to redirect the dog from distractions, but also use food some of the time. The exclusive use of tugging as a reward may drive the highly aroused dog too far over the top, making peak performance impossible. In addition to the games already described in this series, you can add others that focus on duration behaviors. Dog that require more “amping up” to create drive should play games that consist of short bursts of energy that charge them up. It’s the opposite for the crazed agility dog. This dog needs to focus on decision-making games that stimulate more thoughtfulness from him. © ALISSA BEHN/PE T PERSON ALITIES Mix Up the Routine Be sure to rehearse your warm-up routine (including the trot/massage/stretch routine) at home and in your training classes when you run your dog. Keep things as consistent as possible. If you have your own agility ring at home, you probably often get lazy and just walk out and train. Don’t allow this to happen. Take the time to put on the dog’s leash and rehearse your entire start-line routine. If you have an extremely high-drive dog, you will need to become unpredictable with parts of this routine. For example, my 11year-old high-drive boy Buzz learned early in his career that a relaxing massage was always followed by the chance to do his favorite thing in the world: agility. Soon he began to tighten up all his muscles and whine/hum/scream during his massages. I had to start massaging him at home at times when I would not work him. The higher-drive dogs need a routine, but you will need to keep the routine fresh by changing your games or the order you do things, both at home and at trials. Loose Leash Walking Your dog following your body motion is a key to agility success. Loose leash walking is just that—your dog following your body motion. At a trial, I drape a long, braided tug leash around my neck. My ultimate goal is to never touch it. I will do front crosses as I walk to change the dog’s focus if he gets distracted. Every time you go out to train, have your dog practice loose leash walking on the way to the ring. But don’t frustrate your dog by asking for too much in your first session. You may need to start by having him walk only two to three steps on-leash, rewarding each stride with a cookie. Then give him the ultimate reward of taking off his leash. Lifestyle and Contingencies As I have previously mentioned, focus issues do not begin and end at an agility trial. Examine your dog’s lifestyle at home and look for sources of self-reinforcement. With the over-aroused dog it is important you pair the reinforcement value of running agility with working for you. Therefore, list all the activities your dog finds rewarding and make sure he is never allowed to engage in them without first performing a control behavior with you. For example, do you let your dog bust out the back door, run to the agility field, and bark at you while you make your way to him? His unruly behavior is being rewarded by your response of doing agility with him. It is time to start a new routine. Duration Downs You can follow up some loose leash walking by having your dog perform a duration down. Start at your back door or the gate to the agility ring. Put your dog in a down and then walk out to the field. If he can hold his down, recall him to you, have him perform a hand-touch, and then begin your agility training. Change the duration of this down, sometimes calling him immediately, other times waiting two to three minutes. If you have worked through all of the Crate Games stages this will be an easy extension of the games for him. Build up the duration until he can wait quietly for 10 or more minutes prior to your agility training. Contingencies to reinforcement will go a long way in your quest for more focus from your agility dog. © CLEA N RUN 46 Clean Run | August 08

Clean Run Magazine - August 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - August 2008