Clean Run - December 2011 - 42

TEACHING FOCUS AND IMPULSE-CONTROL CLASSES
Week 8
By Deborah Jones, PhD Photos by author

For our last week of class we play a number of games and have some friendly competitions. You can provide small prizes to the winners of each game if you’d like. This is a good place to share all those toys that you’ve collected from qualifying at your agility trials. The real measure of success is the difference in each team from the ﬁrst night to the last night of class. Our hope is that both the trainer and the dog have learned and changed. As instructors we are quick to point out the progress we have seen and the changes we observe in each of the teams. It is important to be very speciﬁc about changes. Saying “You are doing better” is pretty vague and general. Saying, “Remember how Eddie couldn’t walk into class on a loose leash before. Look at him now!” is clear and precise. This ﬁnal class is a chance for working teams to use and demonstrate the skills we have been working on throughout this course. We are often surprised by the winners. Sometimes the competitive spirit kicks in and the most unexpected teams do the best. In addition, it’s always lots of fun. We set up the room with the different exercise stations at the beginning of class and explain and demonstrate each of the games. Then we give students about 15 minutes of free practice before we begin. To avoid a free-for-all we divide students
42

into small groups of two or three and start each group at a different station. Every few minutes we have them switch to the next rotation. We circulate around the room during practice time and give coaching and feedback as needed. The instructor will need a stopwatch along with a pen and paper. Most of the games are timed. On the paper list the names of each working team down the side and the names of the games across the top.

Temptation Alley Walk Handlers must walk their dogs through a variety of distractions and challenges on a loose leash (using penalty yards as necessary). Handlers may not continue moving forward on a tight leash. The leash must be loose for every forward step. We use the same setup that we had for the recall game. Again, fastest time through the distractions (on a loose leash) wins. Ex-pen Races An open ex-pen is set up at one end of the room. Markers are set up on the ﬂoor to indicate the increasing distances for each repetition. Starting close to the ex-pen (at the ﬁrst marker) the handler sends the dog into the pen. The dog must be completely inside the pen. Next, the handler takes the dog to the farther distance away from the ex-pen, and then the next. The dog must be successful at each

GRADUATION GAMES
Temptation Alley Recall The team with the fastest recall through a variety of distractions and challenges wins this game. The trainer leaves the dog on a stay (or a classmate or instructor may hold the dog) behind a start line and goes to a designated line to call. Along the path we put out a huge variety of distractions. Each team does two recalls and their best time counts as their score.

Stinger ignoring the distractions to perform a really nice recall (note that the dogs in the background are all working on their mats)

Keno offering great moving focus despite the distractions
Clean Run | December 11
Clean Run - December 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - December 2011
