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Lesson 3: The Key is Commitment
COURSE: Secrets of Perfect Timing LEVEL: intermediate to advanced INSTRUCTION: self-­‐paced
Overview
Materials
This lesson teaches you to recognize commitment. For this lesson you will need: Objectives
By the end of this lesson: ■
You will start to know your dog’s signs of commitment. ■
You will start to see the signs of commitment within a sequence. •
5 jumps •
1 tunnel (or substitute pinwheel of 3 jumps) Other Resources
The Art of Reading Agility Courses Activities
This lesson includes: Success from the Inside 1.
Theory and quiz Never Forget! The Ultimate Program for Remembering Agility Courses 2.
Video homework Coming soon: 3.
Two agility drills ■
Teaching Collection in 10 Easy Steps Adaptations
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Master Blaster You may use a pinwheel of jumps to replace the tunnel. ■
Team work for agility ■
Novice Fast-­‐Track
Evaluation
Quiz and success of drills.
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Lesson 2: The Key is Commitment
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It's one thing to teach your dog to commit, but it's a completely different thing to KNOW when he has committed... to actually recognize you are free to move on to your next handling position. Top handlers have their attention on their dogs over 80% of the time. They may not be staring at them per se, but the handlers are keenly aware of the INTENT of the dog. Why is this important to perfect timing? As a matter of fact, it's probably one of the most important elements of perfect timing. As a handler, you can't leave until your dog is committed to an obstacle, or you will get a refusal. But if you wait until well after your dog is committed to an obstacle, you are babysitting and are late leaving for your next handling position. This is often joked about as "watching the pretty dog". If you can recognize the instant your dog has committed to an obstacle, you are free to leave without the risk of incurring a refusal. First of all, we had better define commitment. Commitment is the moment in time when your dog makes the decision to perform an obstacle. It can be quite far back from an obstacle or can be almost on top of an obstacle. It is affected by speed, understanding of cues and obstacles, and level of trust in the moment. The commitment point is not the take-­‐off point. There are two components to being able to recognize whether your dog is committed to an obstacle or not. The first is knowing what the signs are that indicate your dog is going to commit to an obstacle, and the second is having enough 'brain space' left to actually look at and see your dog. Recognizing the signs of commitment
So, what does commitment look like? There are several tell-­‐tale clues. ■
One of the most important is to watch your dog's eyes. If he is looking at you or the wrong obstacle, he is NOT committed to the obstacle you want. When he commits to an obstacle, he will be looking forward intently intently focused on the obstacle. ■
Another clue is the way he is striding. If he is stuttering or in collection, his commitment level is generally lower than when he is in extension. When he decides to commit, you will see a more determined stride. In the case of a jump, you will often see some shoulder extension as the dog starts to plan a take-­‐off point. ■
You might see other more individual signs from your dog such as the ears might be forward when the dog is confident. You won't necessarily watch the ears specifically, but it is all part of the general picture you see. You might not even be able to describe it exactly but taking in the whole picture you get a 'sense' that your dog is committed. Occasionally dogs can look committed and will pull off at the last second. Some dogs get particularly good at this. This often gets trained by accident because in the training process the handler rushed a bit and pulled the dog off by accident a lot trying to train tight turns when the dog already had the tendency to be 'twitchy' and pull off. It's important to read the type of dog you are working with and if you have a young twitchy dog that may pull off easily, work more on commitment and worry less about getting the turns tight initially. Make sure if you signal a jump and the dog starts to pull off, you follow through and make the dog take it before it misses the jump or spins into you. Homework on next page for recognizing commitment…
Lesson 2: The Key is Commitment
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Homework on your own: Watch a bunch of video of you and your dog running courses or drills and concentrate on what your dog looks like at the moment he 'decides' to commit to an obstacle so you can see it at a glance in real life. Being able to see it at a glance is key, because if you have to stare to see it, you'll be too late. ■
When does he commit on fast sequences? ■
When does he commit on more technical sequences? ■
Does he commit better to some obstacles than others or obstacles at certain angles (i.e. angled jumps can be a problem)? ■
How much does your position and speed affect his commitment? ■
Do you have to be near? ■
Can you be lateral? ■
Can you be behind him? ■
Does he tolerate much movement from you? !
Creating enough brain space to see commitment
If your mind is too full of trying to remember the course or trying to remember the newest handling move, or the mistake you almost just made, or the fact you are happy to have made it through the last sequence, you don't have enough brain space to even see what your dog is thinking. When you are doing this you are running the course. Most people run the course. Top handlers know the course and run the dog. You have to learn to *see* your dog. First of all, if you need help memorizing courses so your mind is clear and confident, be sure to work through the drills in the e-­‐book Never Forget! The Ultimate Program for Memorizing Agility Courses, available on this site, as well as Success from the Inside, available through www.theagilitycoach.ca in Canada or Clean Run in the U.S. Next, try the drills below with your only focus being to *see* the dog commit to the obstacle and then to reconnect with him after the obstacle. Watch for the cues you saw when you did your video homework. Have fun! !
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Drill 1 In this drill, focus on seeing your dog truly commit to the tunnel. After you *see* him commit (that doesn't mean going in, that means you would bet $100 he was going to take the tunnel), check where you are going on course, and then *see* him and reconnect as he comes out of the tunnel (make eye contact). You must really concentrate on watching your dog, not looking at obstacles. Feel the course, watch your dog. If he pulls off any other jumps, when you repeat the drill you must also *see* him commit to those jumps before you can leave to your next handling position. Watch his intent on approach. Is he thinking of missing them again? Make sure he takes the jumps. !
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Drill 2 In this drill, you will not only focus on seeing your dog commit to the tunnel and then seeing and reconnecting with him on the way out of the tunnel (make eye contact), you will also focus on seeing his commitment to jumps #4 and #10. Depending on the dog, jumps #3 and #9 may also need your full attention, depending on your dog's understanding and your handling. Anywhere there is a mistake, pay full attention next time to that obstacle. Watch the dog's intent on approach and make sure the same mistake doesn't happen again. Once again, the main goal is to learn to *see* the cues that your dog is committing to an obstacle. !
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