Clean Run Magazine - June 2009 - 81

with dogs sniffing or searching for food. From the first if I ask for a sit, it means sit immediately; don’t sniff for a while and then sit. Again, all of these problems have been addressed off the table. Teach from day one that even if there is food in front of the dog, the dog needs to listen to you to earn a reward. A willingness to change position and do other behaviors besides sit and down produces a dog that eagerly gets on the table and assumes the desired position. Add the drills of treats between their feet and alongside them and you have a dog interested in working the table, not just suffering through 5 seconds. Even with a MACH dog I still do many exercises described above during training sessions to keep my dogs sharp and compliant. And besides, it’s fun! Collecting and “Sticking” the Table The next important criterion for the table is that my dog gets on the table in a collected manner. The dog should take the desired position while I immediately leave him and set up for the next part of the course. From the first, my dogs understand to maintain position and they expect me to move away. Most Excellent-level courses have some lead-out advantage at the table and I want dogs that know and understand that they stay put while I hurry away. So how do we teach our dogs to collect and stick the table as they land on it? I teach it on the flat with a paper towel or washcloth target. The paper towel is more for the handlers than the dogs since it gives the handler a visual picture of where the dog is and how precisely he is obeying the command. If the dog can learn to down quickly enough to land on the paper towel target, then collecting to stop on the table is a piece of cake. Once again, this is an excellent on-the-flat drill to do with your dog’s dinner as well as in an agility class. Lay a paper towel on the ground, stand next to it, and ask your dog to sit or down on top of it. Reward. Move away a step, return, and reward for the dog’s maintaining position. Move two steps out, reward, and so on, until you can ask your dog for a down or sit on the towel and move briskly away. Once the dog allows you to move away, intersperse recalls from the position. Since the table has both stay and release components, you need to focus on and reward both the stay and release on the flat. Progress to taking one step to the towel, ask for a sit/down, and immediately move away, again rewarding frequently for the dog’s taking the position and also rewarding the dog for duration while you move away and return. Work up to walking and eventually running to the paper towel and giving a verbal command for the down or sit while you move beyond the towel with barely a break in stride. Adding a hand signal is perfectly acceptable if you desire, as long as you move beyond immediately. Don’t forget to return often and reward. Because you have the towel as a visible marker you can see if the dog responds immediately. June 09 | Clean Run 81

Clean Run Magazine - June 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - June 2009