Reprinted from:  FRONT and FINISH® – February 2003

 By Andrea Dugan   emailto: adugan01@twcny.rr.com

Through years of Obedience and Agility, I have developed a program that looks at the skills needed for Agility and creates them in an Obedience format. I call my program “Obedience for Agility”. I consider Obedience as teaching my dog, Indiana, a skill needed to perform a behavior on cue. I need to teach her where to focus her attention during each exercise, on me, on herself or on the environment and she also needs to learn the skill of continuation. I have used this philosophy for Schutzhund, Tracking, Conformation, Agility, and naturally Obedience. Sounds confusing? Let me explain.

In Obedience Indiana needs to focus on me while heeling in order to mimic my speed and direction. She needs to focus on me while awaiting my signal to retrieve the dumbbell over the high jump, switch to self-focus to make sure she clears the jump, change her focus to the environment to find the dumbbell, back to self-focus to clear the jump and sit in front of me, then handler focus to wait for my next cue.

For the “Go Out” in Schutzhund Obedience, Indiana must wait attentively in heel position for me to give the cue to heel and then take off like a rocket in a straight line until she is given the “down” cue.

In Agility it’s a bit more challenging. Not only must Indiana must wait patiently behind the starting line, but constantly focus on me for direction and speed, make sure she clears the jumps, touches the contact zones, and doesn’t miss a weave pole, learn how to work away from me, discriminate between obstacles and understand directions. Yes, we practice routines over and over until they become second nature, but we need to have a solid foundation in place.

I started teaching Agility in 1999 using the “Obedience for Agility” approach. My students have excelled in their communication skills not only on the Agility field, but off the field as well.

What to teach first

I’m sure most people who start Agility can’t wait until they start performing the obstacles and start running a course. But why would I teach Indiana to focus on the environment first, and then try to get her to focus on me? That makes a lot of sense if you think about it. If she is taught the obstacles first and then how to run them in a sequence, I am going to have a difficult time “steering” her around the course. If I “revved” her up while learning a new skill, she becomes reactive to that skill. She is learning how to jump series of jumps, but because they are in front of her, not because that is the direction I want her to go.

In Agility training, Indiana’s first focal point should be on me because I will give her directions for:

The direction she is to run

The obstacles to take

The speed she is to run at

Without Indiana focusing on me, she really won’t knowwhere she is to focus her attention.

Much of my Agility training is done off of the Agility field.  Of course, I need the obstacles to teach them to Indiana, butI do that piece meal. The first skill I teach her is directional cues. Initially these are taught by following my body and hand gestures.

Before I start explaining anything, make sure your dog has a clear “indicator” and “release” cue. I find this is extremely important during training new skills. If you don’t know about these, please e-mail me and I will explain them to you.  We also need a reference point to make things easier. Let’s use the clock. Unless otherwise noted, Indiana will be in the middle of the clock facing towards the #12. I will be moving around to the numbers.

Learning Follow The Hand Game

This is the initial game I start out with since Indiana’s first focal point to be me. I will be giving her the direction I want her to go, the obstacle I want her to take, and the speed at which she is to run. She needs to get used to understanding my body language. Since Indiana needs to work on both sides of me on the Agility Field, and this game will be her first introduction to that concept.

For the first hand game, Indiana will always be walking in a straight line, towards #12 I will be the one making the turns. Indiana is on my left hand side (as close to heel position as possible) nibbling food in my left hand. I start to walk forward. If she starts walking with me, I will I/RR. This means that I “Indicate” to her with either a clicker or a verbal cue that “Yes, that behavior right there is what I want you learn.” RR means rapid reinforcement, four or five pieces of food given to her one right after another so she will offer the behavior again.  As we are walking toward the #12, I make a turn to the left so I am facing her, I am walking backwards (facing #6) and she is still walking forward in a straight line (facing #12). If she is doing it correctly, I/RR.  I will move the food from my left hand in to my right  hand and turn so Indiana is now walking in heel position but she is on your right side (both facing #12). If she is still with me, I’ll I/RR.

When she can do this properly, I start to “release” her in the middle of walking. Doing this increases her intensity in the game and creates a “want” to continue. I’ll accommodate her the first few times and then I’ll “release” her for good. If she still wants to play, I’ll teach her a new skill.