Distance Recommendation?

corbinam

corbinam

Moderator
Bentley is 2 Gamblers Qs away from his ADCH, and there is no hope in sight :) So, it's time for us to actually train distance skills. Those of you that have been following us on our agility journey know how hard we have worked to get ANY distance from him, and I'm really proud of how far we've come.

So that being said, does anyone have any suggestions? On Clean Run I see "Dial Up the Distance" and "Go the Distance" DVDs. I don't know anything about either of these, though.

I think I'd prefer something with specific exercises that we can work through. I think we'd need to start from the beginning.

Thanks in advance!
 
Is he food motivated? I use targets to move distance and have had quite success with it. I target at the end of a jump sequence and continue to work back and back from the sequence. I cue distance with the cue "out", and when in front "go-on".

Also, if toy motivated, I use toys as training technique too. I will tell the dog "out, hup" (usually start with jumps) and then as they start to commit I throw the toy directly through the jump to have them drive forward as I pull away. I continue to do this, increasing the number of obstacles, or distance slowly.

Just some simple suggestions that have worked for me.
 
Mitchy said:
Is he food motivated? I use targets to move distance and have had quite success with it. I target at the end of a jump sequence and continue to work back and back from the sequence. I cue distance with the cue "out", and when in front "go-on".

Also, if toy motivated, I use toys as training technique too. I will tell the dog "out, hup" (usually start with jumps) and then as they start to commit I throw the toy directly through the jump to have them drive forward as I pull away. I continue to do this, increasing the number of obstacles, or distance slowly.

Just some simple suggestions that have worked for me.
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Thank you for the ideas! We've used targeting before, but one thing that makes it hard is that Bentley learns differently than most dogs (or so it seems). He really hones in on a target, and we have a hard time once the target is gone. But, I think targets will definitely be a GREAT tool as we work on training more distance-scenarios.

I really wish he were toy motivated, as that would really help. But unfortunately he could care less!
 
I prefer Bu Houstons Go The Distance book. It has set exercises and how to start teaching certain aspects of distance. I also have Kriaty Netzers Dial Up The Distance. Parts of it I find useful but other parts I dont feel compliment a motion based handling system as they involve a lot of butt handling and completely diaregard motion. So if you decide to get her dvd you will have to pick and choose what works for you. I teavh distance but it always compliments the motion. I dont teach distance where I am standing still butt handling. I think ot dilutes what acceleration and deceleration cues mean when taught in that manner.
 
Distant

My two boys are the distant dogs more so Shadow than Sting.I can send my dog 75 to 100 feet away and Shadow runs the baseball diamond.Back when i trained distant I just used a garbage can and that was the way we were taught.
 
I try and work on distance because I am probably the least fit person on this agility forum, :ick
I have to be able to handle from the butt standing still if I want any chance of getting a Q lol, yes I do tell my dog to go on. Of course I am by no means in your guys' league, not sure if I can help ya :D

I have put a tunnel at the end and did collar grab sends to go on to tunnel... also reward with thrown bait pouch if can't use toy.
Also grid jumps, taking myself out of the equation, creating independance for driving his line to the end to the reward. A lot of racing to the reward games without obstacles also worked with drive for toy.
and yes, directionals

Lateral distance-- I set up dog in front of jump, reward on his line, again started with a bait pouch, then graduate to toy, a ball has been working best for Toff and I (if Bentley likes balls?)
 
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I LOVE working distance - chances runs are my favourite :-D. For me, it's kind of like learning the steps of a dance - you have to figure out what works best for you and your partner.

A few thoughts:

Get your dog used to limited verbal commands. For me:

Out = move away from me
Here = move towards me
Go = take the next obstacle (usually a jump/hoop)
Go by = go past the obstacle you're heading towards (rarely used, but nice to have as a back up)
Spin/Turn - sharp turn to the left or right after an obstacle (like cik/cap)
Left/Right - 90 degree turn
I also name the non-jump/hoop obstacles (tunnel, walk it, teeter, table).

Your dog shouldn't be dependent on verbal commands, but they are they are nice support and a way to affirm to your dog that they're on the right path.

The biggest breakthrough I had was when I learned to experiment in order to understand how my dog followed my body language. Some dogs follow movement, some follow shoulders, some follow hips, others follow hands....it depends on the dog. Starr really follows shoulders - it doesn't matter what any other part of my body does, he goes where my shoulders do. Once I realized this, distance work became much, much easier for both of us - it was like we started speaking the same language all of a sudden. This will also impact how you run regular courses.

I also did a lot of confidence building exercises - starting close to a series of obstacles, and then moving out. I really focused on rewarding the "try" as opposed to just the successes. This increased his confidence exponentially - he learned to go out with confidence, because there was never any negativity associated with distance. As his confidence increased, so did his willingness to go greater distances.

Good luck and have fun :-).
 
The March 2013 Clean Run had an article 5 Required Skills for Successful
Distance Work. The skills were 1) Independent Obstacle Performance, 2)
Obstacle discrimination, 3) Directional cues, 4) Distance and 5) Knowledge
of Dog's Speed.
Throwing 90% of rewards away from you and rewarding on the go, never at stop will help.
 
Leo compare to Che is mommy´s boy:biggrin2: so we had to do few things to improve
Biggest win for us was shaping distance for independent obstacle with jumps
I am sure you´ve done plenty of those but returning to this never hurts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVGiaPj-wP8
It is all from DJS by Linda M
Second part is to shape taking jump from distance. I was taught to do it a bit different than this poster presents but the idea same- start with sitting-standing more and more away and see if dog chooses to go to take that jump. Again, it is all about shaping dog to make choices and creating highly rewarding independent behavior
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVGiaPj-wP8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnXSYzOMkl0
Once you get fair distance on jumps and dog gets to be jumpaholic it is easy after.
Silvia shows in her foundation video how to shape for tunnels. Solid cik and cap helps too as after first stage being around the cone you move distance and see if dog will rotate on his own.
I think just about any dog can be taught to play with toys. Takes time though. Manners Minder can help with you need to work on distance with food. There is MM forum on FB to ask if you have any questions.
 
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