Clean Run - September 2013 - 58

12

T

T

2

2

1

Exercise 6

T

Your dog should have a solid understanding of Out! before attempting this
exercise. It is fairly easy for a dog to
maintain a straight line when he is moving away from you. It is more difficult to
change his line and move him away laterally when he is moving toward you.

2

1

A

1

B

Set up the exercise shown in Figure 13.
Put the dog in a stay in front of jump #1
and lead out as shown. Call the dog over
#1. As he lands, take one step toward
his path between jumps #1 and #2. Use
the same body motion and language as
you did for the earlier exercises. Tell him
Out, Jump! and move forward in a straight
line as illustrated. Repeat your Out, Jump!
cue as he lands after jump #2 to push
him out to jump #3.

C

Add a jump to the exercise to increase the difficulty.

13

14

T

3

Increase the challenge by moving farther
away at the beginning of the sequence and
incorporating other pieces of equipment.

A

2

Note: If you have worked on independent
obstacle performance, you can eventually
drop the obstacle name from your Out!
command. When you cue the dog with
Out! and the correct body motion and
language, the dog will perform the obstacle without the verbal obstacle cue.

B
1

It is difficult to change the dog's line and
move him away laterally when he is moving
toward you.

C

Use backchaining
to teach the dog to
move ahead
through a series of
jumps.

© bryse taylor

15

Teaching
ForwarD DisTance
Backchaining and targeting are very effective ways to teach forward distance.
Exercise 1

Lean forward and extend your arm to the front until the dog reaches the target.

Exercise 3
Set up two jumps about 15' apart as
shown in Figure 12. Place a target on
the landing side of jump #2 at an angle,
about 6' away from the jump for small
dogs and 8' to 10' away for larger dogs.
Begin the exercise with the dog at your
side as shown in Figure 12a. Release the
dog with Out, Jump!, using the same body
motion and language you used in Exercise
2. As the dog lands from jump #1, take a
step toward his path between jumps #1
and #2, turning your shoulders toward
his path with your arm to the side and
slightly forward. Give your verbal Out,
Jump! cue and move straight ahead as
58

shown by the handler’s path in Figure 12a.
When the dog is confidently taking the
second jump, move laterally to the starting position shown in Figure 12b and then
gradually progress to Figure 12c.
Exercise 4
Now set up three jumps and repeat the
process in the previous exercise. With
three jumps, your dog should be moving
at least 15'-20' away from you laterally.
Exercise 5
The next step is to repeat Exercises 2
through 4, but use different pieces of
equipment and begin to fade the target.

Set up three jumps in a straight line, about
15' apart from each other, as shown in
Figure 14. Place a target on the landing
side of the last jump, about 6' away from
the jump for small dogs and 10' away for
larger dogs. Bait the target and show your
dog the food. Get the dog excited about
the reward by asking him if he wants it,
telling him it is for him, etc. It is very important not to tell the dog to Leave It or
use No! at this stage. You want to create
excitement and drive. Take the dog by his
collar, walk him away from the target, and
put him in front of the last jump as shown
by position A in the diagram. Release the
dog’s collar, take one step forward, and use
your verbal cue for the jump. Lean forward
with your arm extended in front of you until the dog reaches the target as shown in
Figure 15. Mark and reward when the
dog reaches the target.
Clean Run

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September 13
Clean Run - September 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - September 2013
