4. Distance

4. WORKING AT A DISTANCE

LEVEL TWO

Dog goes around a pole from a distance of 2’ with no more than two cues.

DISCUSSION: The first time I thought about distance behaviours was one day when I was riding my bicycle. My Giant Schnauzer went one way around a lamp post. I went the other. As I was lying on the ground waiting to see if I'd get up again, I thought "Gosh it would be useful to be able to tell the dog whether she should go around the pole or not!" Of course, that was a long time before agility and sheepherding, and long before I realized that a retrieve and drop on recall and pulling a dogsled are also distance behaviours. Teaching your dog to work reliably at a distance is necessary to life AND sports – not to mention that a good solid leadout from the start line in agility will knock people's socks off, especially if you're a beginning trainer!

EASY BEGINNINGS: Luring is the easy way to go with this behaviour. Stand very close to the pole (or pylon, or stool, or whatever you're going to start with), with the pole in front of you on your right. Maneuver the dog so she's in front of you on your left. Rapid-Fire five treats into her mouth, then turn just a smidge so you're handing them to her AROUND the pole. Whereas before you were putting each treat right into her mouth, now you're stopping each treat just SHORT of her mouth, so she has to walk around the pole one small step at a time to get it. When she's around the pole, Rapid-Fire another five.

Start again. This time, Rapid-Fire three, then turn and make her come a step or two around the pole to get the next one. Help her around the pole ten times, then start her out, turn, and wait to see if she goes around the pole by herself. If she does, Rapid-Fire another five treats. If she doesn't, go back to scratch and explain it a few more times.

Once she understands that she has to go around the pole, you can very gradually step back from it. The distance required at this level shouldn't present a problem.

A combination approach is good for this behaviour as well. You could shape her to go near the pole – click for being near it, for looking at it, for walking toward it, etc – AND lure by tossing each treat further along the path you want her to take.

PROBLEM SOLVING: Actually, I've never seen anybody have any problems with this behaviour. If you have a problem, let me know, I'll write it up!

ADDING A CUE: The easy way to add a cue to this behaviour is, naturally, to wait until she's going around the pole, then tell her what it's called (Go Around, for instance). Cut down your body language and the lure as soon as possible. The more difficult way to add a cue is to divide the behaviour into two – go clockwise and go counterclockwise, and give each direction a separate cue. Standard sheepherding cues are "Away" for counterclockwise and "Get by" for clockwise.

CONTINUING EDUCATION: Put the pole somewhere that you and the dog can pass it fairly regularly. Randomly tell the dog to go around the pole or stay with you as you pass it. Work it with pole and dog on your right, and with pole and dog on your left. Work it in both directions. Work it around lots of different objects – use bigger objects as the dog gets better. Can she go around a chair? A couch? A car? NOW we're cooking!

Here's a little quiz for you to ask your dog. Is it easier for her to figure out going around theh SAME pole in a NEW location, or is it easier for her to go around a DIFFERENT object (stool, pylon, basket) in the SAME location?

LEVEL THREE

Dog goes around a pole 4’ away on one cue only. This is an optional behaviour.

DISCUSSION: The difference between 2' and 4' isn't much if you truly had her offering you the go-around in the previous Level.

EASY BEGINNINGS: Work the Level 2 Distance behaviour until you have it well on cue – until you can ask her to go around the object when she wasn't thinking of going around it, and she not only recognizes the cue but gives you the behaviour. From that point, it's just a matter of gradually backing away from the pole. I like to back up a couple of inches when the dog is going away from me toward the pole. Maybe it's superstitious on my part, but it seems that if the dog doesn't notice me moving away from the pole, she doesn't have any difficulty with a little extra distance.

Each time you begin a training session, start close and move back further. As she gets better, start back further until finally you're asking for the behaviour from 4' away on your initial approach.

PROBLEM SOLVING:

SHE'S STUCK STARING AT ME! A trick I use is to set her up to think of going around the pole the second and third time. If she's going around clockwise, I turn to my right so she comes up to me on my left side (I hold the treat in my left hand). She gets the treat, then follows me as I continue to turn until we're both facing the pole again. Since she's already moving AND facing the pole, it seems to be easier for her think of going around it from that position.

ADDING A CUE: You may have been able to use your cue every time while you built up your distance, but if you give the cue twice without getting the behaviour, you naturally stopped using your cue until she was cheerfully volunteering the behaviour again.

CONTINUING EDUCATION: As before, different "poles", different locations, and different directions will solidify her understanding of the behaviour.

LEVEL FOUR

Dog goes around a pole 10’ away on one cue only. This is an optional behaviour.

DISCUSSION: At 10', your dog now needs to seek out the pole and commit to going around it, as it isn't right in front of her any more. She's starting to be ready for doing other distance behaviours such as jumps, retrieving, tunnels, gobacks.

EASY BEGINNINGS: You've got this behaviour at 4'. From here on, it's just a matter of adding distance. Distance can be added exactly the same way you add duration – one small step at a time.

Get the dog offering to go 4' readily. Work this 5 times, then start backing away from the pole 6" at a time, so the 6th repetition will be 4.5', the next 5', the next 5.5', etc. When she makes a mistake, take her back to working 4' with no trouble and start moving back again.

To save time, I move back while the dog is going forward, so if I'm sending her from 5', I'm receiving her at 5.5', sending her from 5.5', receiving her from 6'.

PROBLEM SOLVING:

SHE'S STUCK AT 8'! Every duration or distance behaviour is liable to produce plateaus where it seems the dog will be stuck forever. Don't get frustrated. Keep everything else exactly the same – same training area, same object, same direction – to give her the confidence she needs to take the next step. Be careful that you don't get in the habit of chanting a useless cue or making continuing gestures. Just go back to what she CAN give you and work up slowly. Every time she makes a mistake, go back to where she's confident and work back up again a step at a time.

ADDING A CUE: As always, stop using your cue when you're increasing the difficulty. Add the cue back in when she's volunteering the finished behaviour as you want it, when you want, where you want it.

CONTINUING EDUCATION: Play "Around The Clock" with the pole – send her to the pole from north, south, east, west, and all directions in between. Remember to shorten the distance when you change the direction. Continue to play with sending her around various objects. How about another dog? A cat? Bunny in a cage? A food dish? Exercise pen? Bait on the floor?

LEVEL FIVE

Dog goes over a jump 10’ away from the handler in the same manner as going around a post. Appropriate cues.This is an optional behaviour.

DISCUSSION: In Level Five Distance and Retrieving, for the first time, we're asking the dog to go away from us a real distance to do a job. You'll be using one upright of the jump as your regular pole, with the jump on the other side of the upright. In order to "go around the pole", she has to jump.

LEVEL SIX

Dog performs three jumps in line in a 20’ diameter circle, in both directions. One starting cue only in each direction, and body language cues. This is an optional behaviour.

DISCUSSION: And finally we put the Distance work into chain that you'll actually see on an agility course. This is the same behaviour she gave you in Level Five, but you'll be asking her to take another jump instead of coming back to you after the first one. Test it out with you staying in the centre of the circle, 10' from the dog at all times.

LEVEL SEVEN

Dog performs two directed jumps 10’ apart and 10’ away from the handler. This is an optional behaviour.

DISCUSSION: This behaviour is actually easier than Level Six, but it puts you, the dog, and the jump in different positions in relationship to each other. One of the things you're testing here is the dog's ability to take the correct jump on cue.