Clean Run - August 2014 - 45

The number-one skill you can teach your dog that will help him perform safer tunnels and chutes is learning how to read his approach and
balance himself, in order to work the appropriate tight or soft turn into the obstacle, and work close to the obstacle without touching it.

going around the plungers and leaving them upright. As your
dog comes out of the turn around the plungers, throw your reward on the line between the plungers and the tunnel. Once your
dog has shown you he can work a balanced turn by leaving the
plungers up, start to include the tunnel after the turn around the
plungers, throwing your toy ahead of the tunnel to reward.
At this stage, you could also begin introducing your motion
(forward, lateral, rotations, acceleration) to the setup with the
tunnel or chute. Remember to give your dog the best chance of
success by adding pressure slowly and rewarding often.

gap between the plungers and the tunnel. I do a lot of prooﬁng
with the plungers 15' away, which allows me to move them toward the tunnel quickly. I move from 15' to 7' from the mouth
of the tunnel. After working through the progressions of motion
again to make sure my dog understands the task, I move the
plungers to their ﬁnal position at the mouth of the tunnel. When
you start to work with them in this ﬁnal position, the apex of the
plunger triangle should be 2" in front of the start of the tunnel.

The plungers should be lined up with
the edge of the tunnel that you are
working on. Here Quasar is working
a curved tunnel with the pressure
of me doing a Ketschker turn. He
independently adjusts his path and the
angle of his body and head in order
to turn tightly around the plungers
(that will eventually be at the tunnel
opening) without touching them.

Here Quasar works with the
plungers against the tunnel
opening. I send him from out
of frame on the left. He spots
his turn and works his path and
his body to make a balanced
turn around the tunnel entry,
leaving the plungers up.

Troubleshooting

Exits

After a few repetitions with the tunnel, your dog might start
to anticipate taking the tunnel and slice through the last half
of the turn, resulting in plungers getting knocked over. It's
important to stop your dog with a gentle "oops" to pinpoint his
mistake if this happens before he takes the tunnel. This is why
we have 15' between the plungers and tunnel at the start-your
ability to stop your dog if he doesn't leave the plungers up
presents a powerful learning opportunity. If your dog repeats
the mistake more than twice, go back to rewarding after the
turn around the plungers to remind him that leaving the plungers up is the ﬁrst thing he has to get right and how
he gets to continue on.

When teaching your dog to stay off the mouth of the tunnel as
he exits, we ﬁrst have to show him that there is a turning behavior associated with the end of the tunnel.

Getting Rid of the Gap

Be sure to proof your lateral motion and crosses with the
plungers in this position so that your dog gets used to having
to complete the turn and leave the plungers up despite your
motion. Once your dog can do this, you can move the plung-

Once you have proofed through your motion, and the plungers
stay upright during your sessions, you can start to get rid of the
August 14

| Clean Run

Place the plungers 5' away from the exit of the tunnel in the
same orientation as if you were working an entry. Line up your
dog with the tunnel and have him wait while you move to the
end of the tunnel to support the turn around the plungers. You
might get a sloppy turn the ﬁrst few times as your dog blasts
out of the tunnel and then has to adjust for the turn, but after a
few repetitions you will be able to see your dog adjusting for
the turn directly out of the tunnel.

Clean Run - August 2014

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