Teaching Contacts

[Guest s123]

Does any one on this list have any good suggestions for teaching contacts? My 17 month old border collie has really grown up all of a sudden and running an agility course off-lead or on a tab lead has become something that she is now capable of doing. I ran her through some sequences at a club on the weekend just the weave poles, a set of jumps and a tunnel and even despite the fact that she was facing other dogs as she came over the last jump she still turned when I told her and went in the tunnel like she was suppose to. The problem is I haven't really taught her contacts before (I mean she goes over the A-frame, see-saw and dog walk but I control her with the lead). I suspect that if I run her off-lead that she would completely miss them. I already know of one of her friends that fly's off the a-frame on the decent and I don't want her to start doing this the minute she is off-lead.All suggestions would be much appreciated as I have never trained a dog in agility and the instructors at our club aren't particularly helpful with suggestions as to contacts. In fact we have been going to agility for two months and the issue of teaching contacts has only just been raised in our intermediate class.

[diane allen]

There are several methods, and I don't think I'm the expert, nor can I fully explain everything there is to know about teaching contacts on this board! My recommendation is to find someone who subscribes to Clean Run magazine (and start, if you don't!), and look for past articles on the subject. There have been many!!! Their web site is www.cleanrun.com

One method is backchaining - start the dog on the down side, in whatever position you will require (for most, particuarly long-legged BCs, that's two feet on, two feet off). Give your command; as long as the dog holds the position, he wins; give your release word (OK, go, whatever), then celebrate! When that's solid (that is, you can put the dog there, give the command, dance around in front of him, pretend to start running, anything to try and pull him off and he stays in position), THEN put him a few steps above that, let him move down to the position, and repeat above. Eventually, work towards the dog coming all the way over, at full speed. The performance should be the same.

 

All this on an A-frame would be with it rather low at first, gradually raising it AFTER the performance is solid at the lower height. Dogs tend to be great at low heights (the "urge" to go fast down isn't as strong with it low), then blow it at full height. The dogwalk could be actual height. It's obviously harder on a teeter. That's another whole training issue, but the contact performance would be easier once it had been learned solidly, on a solid obstacle.

 

Another method takes another person to assist. Since I didn't have that luxury during our early stages, I didn't do this; but think I'll try it with my next dog. You'll need a good-fitting harness for the dog (DO NOT use a collar alone!), a long line, and a friend with leather gloves and a good sense of timing. The object is to NOT let the dog do wrong. The line is attached to the harness, and the person (with leather gloves, so she doesn't get rope burn!), hold the line. As the dog goes up and over, the person on the line lets it out JUST until the dog is in the correct position, then the line stops feeding out. The dog is physically HELD in the correct position, using care of course not to jerk the dog sideways or stop him above the contact. You give the command and the dog is instantly doing it correctly. Obviously eventually the harness and/or the line fade, and the dog should continue performing.

 

If you're doing USDAA, there are up contacts to worry about. Hoops, cavaletti or bars on the ground in front of the A-frame can all help with that. (See? You need the longer, more informative articles!)

 

My regrettable experience is: I thought Lucy knew that "touch!" meant--go to the bottom and stop there. Had a friend watch us do it about ten times in a row, and the bad news: Lucy actually thought "touch!" meant--stop whenever you heard the word! If I said it when she was at the top of the A-frame, she'd creep down a slat or two, then wait for approval. When it didn't come, she'd creep down another slat or two, and wait. Argh. Did we ever lose time there!? (Obviously...) So - rather than having to re-train the dog to go FAST down the contact, it's better to just train it right in the first place.

 

There are folks who train running contacts with some success - using hoops, mainly; but I'm not convinced it's foolproof. Or it is only until the dog figures out he can catch mom faster if he just bails over that yellow zone. But certainly that can be done.

 

Sounds like maybe your club needs some help too. You and/or they might look into the Clean Run instructors' books. They have lots and lots of suggestions for teaching everything! If the club bought a set, everyone would benefit. They're not very expensive, and very helpful. Also available on their web site. Waiting until after the dog is "doing" contact obstacles is not the time to teach them how to do it! But all is not lost - I'm sure everyone can figure it out with some effort.

 

Best of luck, and let us know how it goes!

 

Hope this is a helpful start. Find those back issues of Clean Run!

 

(and I should read through my posting before posting it!....)

 

[This message has been edited by diane allen (edited 02-20-2002).]

 

[This message has been edited by diane allen (edited 02-20-2002).]

[UpNatEm]

A real simple method I see others do is the simple stop and wait command.On the down side of the aframe or dog walk it's "stop and wait" and do not release until ready.

 

 

 

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Country Manor Border Collies

Rogers,Mn.

763-428-8461