Clean Run - October 2017 - 22

PRACTICALLY TRAINING:
Please
Release Me:
Stay, Stop,
and Go

Hello reader, I'm interrupting our regularly scheduled training program to
bring you this important information
on the release command. We were
scheduled to be following the fabulous
One Jump, Two Jump Training Workbook by yours truly; it will be back next
month, but this month I diverge.

sometimes released with more enthusiasm than other times-the release
to swim in the pool was way more of
what I wanted on the agility start line-
I added criteria to the release. What a
concept, no? Now I look at the release
as a very important command with very
specific criteria.

I have, in the past, explained that at this
point in my career I want to find the
little differences in training that make
the big differences in performance-
the things the pros know that you
might not. When I get to thinking about
these things, one of them will often
take hold and not let go. This happened
to me a couple of years ago with the release command. I have written about it
in more than one article and I am more
than happy to talk about it endlessly to
my classes. This fact highly motivates
my students to take the subject seriously, lest they suffer the lecture again.
This week I was pontificating on the
subject and was once again inspired to
make the big, giant hairy deal out if that
it deserves. Here goes.

You can approach the training of the
release command like it's a party trick
to keep it fun. But believe in it as if it
is the Holy Grail, because it is. Agility
training will be much easier if your dog
is fluent in commands for run, stop,
and stay behaviors. By fluent I mean
he can comply with you even when he
is excited or distracted, or both. Even
if you have running contacts, the start
line and table live on. Collecting up or
shortening his stride in order to make a
tight turn is part of the dog responding
to a "slow down" cue, cut from the same
control cloth that I am talking about.
If your dog is mixed up about when
to stop or when to go, even a little bit,
it will affect many parts of your agility
performance to one degree or another.
Mixed up dogs don't run fast, they can't.
When you get mixed up about where
you are going or what you are doing
when you are driving, do you speed up?
I rest my case.

When I see a dog struggling with
his responses to his handler's cues I
have to find out why, 'cause that's my
job. I used to think of the release cue
("Break,""Free,""OK!") as kind of the less
important cousin to the all-important
"Stay" command. The "Stay" work got
all the attention, all the cookies, all the
praise. Then, when I realized my dogs
22

If your dog doesn't release with determination, speed, and assuredness off
the start line or from a 2-on/2-off contact position on your first command,

© MATT ALLISON PHOTOGRAPHY

By Sandy Rogers, photos by
Laura Tsuk except where noted

he is mixed up. That is the proof; you
don't have to wonder about it, he is
telling you. Listen to your dog. So understand that "going" (being released) is
directly related to stopping and staying.
If one of the three has gotten jumbled
in the dog's brain, the other two behaviors will suffer. It's like a three-legged
stool, if you don't have all three you're
gonna be in trouble. Your dog's clarity
on all three-how to stay, how to stop
thyself, and when to go-is an absolute
necessity for this sport.
Lucky for you, with some truth shed
on the subject, some time to train, and
some really good treats and toys, you
can tackle this most basic critical aspect of training that truly eludes more
students than I want to admit. We are
going to take it to the next level. Stay,
stop, and go aren't for babies anymore!

Don't Make Them Think
Know what dogs love? Okay, yes, you
know plenty of things, but you may
not totally appreciate just how much
they love, crave, and desire simplicity.
They also love to think for themselves,
to figure stuff out on their own. Knowing when to make things simple for the
dog and when to challenge the dog
to figure it out for himself is the art of
training. When you introduce new or
improved criteria, ask yourself, "Can
I make this simple for my dog?" Our
sport has gotten very complicated over
Clean Run | October 17
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - October 2017
