Root Beer Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 I am in the process of teaching Dean an independent 270 and I want to put a verbal cue with it. Most people use "around" or "back", but I already use both of those words for other behaviors. "Around" is my left finish. And yes, he would break off from the jumps to come to heel if I said that! And "back" is back up. He would do that, too, if I cued it during an Agility run!! I want something that is logical to me, but is distinct to him. Any suggestions? I apparently have cue creator's block on this one!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziggzmom Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 How about twist, turn, spin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted October 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 How about twist, turn, spin? Turn is a possibility. I use spin for a Freestyle spin - definitely don't want him doing that in the middle of a jumping pattern! :lol: But turn just might be the one! Thanks for the suggestions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyTDogs Posted October 13, 2011 Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 how about away or wayout? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted October 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 how about away or wayout? Away is his left side lateral cue - moving away from me laterally in heel. So, that one is also taken. I do appreciate the suggestion, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyTDogs Posted October 13, 2011 Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 okay, how about "keep" or "keep out"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airbear Posted October 13, 2011 Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 I'm curious why you'd want an "independent 270". Is this because you can't get there to support it? For me, the key to the 270 is to support the dog through my physical cues. I use "get" which means keep out, keep away, stay on that line, don't cut in, etc. I use it on things like 270s or taking the backside of jumps, but my dog's strongest cue of where to go comes from my motion, Incidentally, I use the same words in different contexts and my dogs don't seem to have any problems with it. For example, if there are sheep and I tell Rex "come", he will give me a clockwise flank. If there are no sheep and I say "come", Rex recalls to me. If we are in the presence of sheep and I say "wshhhht", Rex will cast out and around his sheep. If we are approaching weave poles and I say "wshhht", Rex will weave. Similarly, if Wick has a toy in her mouth and I say "out", she spits out the toy. If we are doing agility and I say "out" she moves away from me in the direction I am indicating. I think dogs might not be as literal as you might think. Also, we do way too many different dog sports to come up with unique words for everything. I had a friend who had to have a different word for everything on the course. Spread jumps had a different word than single jumps, there were a whole bunch of turning commands, I think she even had a different command for an obedience stay versus a wait (where the dog will get released). What I saw, though, was a dog that followed mostly her motion cues regardless of the myriad verbal cues she was giving. When I ran her dog, I believe I used "ok", "go", "here" and "get out". That's all the dog needed, if the motion cues were appropriate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted October 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 I'm curious why you'd want an "independent 270". Is this because you can't get there to support it? For me, the key to the 270 is to support the dog through my physical cues. Because Dean is an incredibly verbal dog. I am there to support his movement, although with him working at a distance, "there" might actually be quite a ways away. But yes, the support through physical cues is just as important as the verbal. I don't mean to say I will be off doing something altogether different or anything. With Dean, though, having a matching verbal can make the difference between him following through or not. It helps with his confidence. Incidentally, I use the same words in different contexts and my dogs don't seem to have any problems with it. I've found the same thing, too, in many cases. For instance, "out" means "go out to potty" at home, but "out" means go away from me to take a piece of equipment in Agility. I have quite a lot of "multipurpose" cues that mean one thing in one context and something completely different in another and the dog knows what is desired partially by context. But in this case, there is a little too much overlap for me to be able to expect him to distinguish. I might actually ask him, for instance, to take a jump and then literally back up and then come in "around" to heel when we are doing Freestyle. While it is true that my body language would be very different, I think in this case having a good distinct cue that I am not using for any other performance behavior is a better idea. Using "back" as an example, if the only time I ever asked him to "back", meaning "back up", was in the house when he is in my way, then I wouldn't really hesitate to use it as an Agility cue. But because he does know "back" in a performance context, it might lead to confusion on one end or another. That's why I want to come up with something distinct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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