There was a discussion of Flatwork on the BaggageAgility Email List and one trainer mentioned their dog preferred to work on their left side. This was due to their obedience training where they worked their dog a lot in heel position. Obviously, for agility you and your dog should be equally comfortable working on both sides.

I replied to the trainer that one way that helps handlers and dogs break out of their handed pattern is to run each practice course in both directions. I don't mean to physically run backwards (although that would be challenging :^), but to run the sequence of obstacles in reverse order. For courses with teeters and chutes you'd need to turn these obstacles 180 degrees.

There are a number of benefits of running courses in both directions. You get more than twice the workout for the same equipment setup.

Working the Little Grey Cells

Switching directions helps you work on course memorization skills; knowing the course in one direction doesn't really help with memorizing it in the opposite direction. In fact, sometimes it makes it harder to run it in the opposite direction because you can fall back on the original sequence if you aren't concentrating.

This is also a good exercise in helping spot patterns in courses regardless of the direction you travel through the course.

Handling the Challenge

Another benefit of reversing course is that you'll likely need a different handling in each direction. This lets you work different skills on the same equipment setup.

Whose Side Are You On?

The final benefit of reversing a course is the one that prompted me to write this article; your dog is likely to be on your opposite side in the reversed course than they were on the original course.

The days of running a course with your dog in heel position are long gone in almost all venues even at the Starters/Novice levels. You'll need at least one change of side on your first competition course. Besides if you plan on going further than Novice it is really important to be adept at handling on both sides.

So now you can Double Your Pleasure and Double Your Fun with any course setup.

I saw some good posts on the Agile Teach email list about teaching the Chute. So I thought I'd jot down my approach and some other's ideas.

Like most folks I teach the chute with the following progression (which is hard to do if you are training on your own):

1. Remove the fabric from chute barrel (or roll up all the way), reward dog for going through chute barrel
2. Replace chute fabric, make fabric only a couple feet long, hold fabric open, reward dog for going through chute
3. Continue lengthening chute fabric, holding fabric open and rewarding dog for going through. As part of this process allow the fabric to lightly brush against the dog's back to get them familiar with the feeling.
4. Once the chute fabric is fully extended start lowering the end so the dog has to contact the fabric. Continue until the fabric is fully on the ground.

One thing to consider when training the Chute is you want the dog to run through with their head down rather than up. It helps them get through the tunnel faster and seems to avoid training the dog to jump up coming out of the chute. Some trainers will start the progression above using a target just past the end of the chute fabric and ask for a nose touch. They then fade the target over time. Another approach is to use a thrown treat, treat bag, or toy in the direction of the dog's motion and low to the ground.

Another aspect of the chute performance is the dog coming straight through the chute and not turning too much to the side to which they anticipate they might be going afterwards. A thrown toy or target can also work for this. Again reward low and straight ahead.

I haven't seen it too often but there are dogs who don't like the feel of the chute fabric pressing down on them or need more reinforcement to rocket through the chute fabric. Diane Spalding from the Agile Teach email list had a great idea and has kindly allowed me to quote her approach:

I tell my new students to go to the dollar store and get a $ 1 shower curtain and then a very cheap shower rod. They then put this on the doorway into a room where the dog constantly goes back and forth....first of all the rod is up high with the curtain barely off the ground with the dog being called thru with great treats or their favorite toy and then as the confidence grows it is lowered until is it about two to three feet off the ground (depending on size of dog) with the curtain being the chute part.....soon the dogs are running thru with gusto and when it is transferred to a barrel - no problem....

Thanks Diane!

As an extension of Diane's approach, you might want to start with the curtain up high enough so the dog is encouraged to duck under the bottom. This would get the dog used to lowering its head. Also if you have a chute at home you could probably wrap and pin the material around the shower rod or purchase some "chute-like" fabric just for this purpose and make a chute curtain to hang from the rod.

So even training a "simple" obstacle takes some thought and effort and the additional effort definitely pays off with a fast and safe chute performance.

The other day I was reminded of some tips I've learned for dealing with those times when we forget where we are going on course or it is our handling that is keeping our dog from being successful on part of a sequence. I'm pretty sure I have Dana Pike to thank for most of these ideas.

You can't usually apply these ideas at a trial - but you can in a class setting and they can help your make the most out of solving the handling "puzzle".

• If you send your dog off course do so with conviction. Your dog didn't know it took the wrong obstacle(s): it was your handling that was at fault. You want your dog to be confident in your leadership (however flawed) when you are running on course.
• Don't scold your dog for your mistake(s). A corollary would be: be damn sure your dog made the mistake before you blame the dog. The old saw in agility is 99% of the time problems are handler induced.
• Try to keep your negative actions (verbal and physical) under control after errors or frustrations. Some dogs are very sensitive to our negative actions and become more tentative/slower after our mistakes. I've seen sensitive dogs almost stop working when their handler only sighed after an off course or dropped bar.
• If you loose track of where to go next ask your dog to perform some task it knows well and doesn't dislike (i.e. sit or down or stay) until your get situated and mentally back in sequence. Then release your dog and continue.
• It is normally best to back up an obstacle or two if you have to restart mid course. You want to end up at the point where you got stuck at the same speed and location relative to your dog as if you hadn't made a mistake.
• Not all dogs take well to being "drilled" multiple times over a section of the course. Some dogs "give up" and others think they did something wrong; you might see your dog changing its behavior when that isn't what you wanted. So watch your dog carefully.
• Sometimes either your execution is flawed or your plan is wrong and you need to actually work out your new plan mid course. Like above, it is best to sit or down your dog and work through the handling without your dog until you get it right. There is no reason to repeat a sequence several times with your dog while you figure out your handling. You don't want your dog thinking they are doing something wrong that is causing you to repeat the sequence over and over.

There is another common agility saying "train like you compete and compete like your train" with which I would often agree. However, agility class is also a time to stretch your boundaries by trying new approaches and taking the time to fix or refine your handling. I hope you find these tips helpful if you find yourself lost or unhappy with your execution on a practice course.

While working on another project I created a legend for the symbols used on an agility course map. So I decided to post it here for folks just starting out who are trying to figure out all the weird symbols on a course map. I remember when I first started reading Clean Run Magazine it was a little bewildering when I first started looking at course maps. So I hope this helps others starting out in the sport.

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The Rear Cross is one of the building blocks of Agility handling. It can be used on almost every Agility course. Like the Front Cross [FrontCross, LearningFrontCross], the Rear Cross can be used to change from one side of your dog to the other and/or change your dog's Lead Leg to initiate a turn. Here is my Rear Cross definition.

I'll also present the Walking the Line and Zig Zag exercises for practicing this skill.

A key point to remember about the Rear Cross is that it requires the handler to be patient enough to let the dog pass them before turning the dog or changing sides. The handler that initiates the cross too early will just Push the dog away from them without getting the dog to pass across the handler's path.

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The Outside Arm Turn can be used to initiate turning your dog during a Rear Cross [RearCross, LearningRearCross]. It is effectively a partial "spin" cue. In itself this little exercise is another fun and easy thing to train your dog.

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Teaching your dog to target your hand with their nose is a very valuable behavior that can be used to train other behaviors. It helps focus your dog on your "lead" hand when training crosses, and allows you to train nose taps on targets as part of training other behaviors (like a nose tap on a contact). Once you have this skill trained you can also use it to "reconnect" with your dog when you need to divert your dog from other less desirable behaviors. It is also one of the easiest behaviors to train.

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The Post Turn is one of the basic agility handling manuevers. It is an extension of the obedience healing we all learned in basic dog obedience class. I've put together an overly thorough method for training the Post Turn to give new trainers a feel for Operant Conditioning that can be used for training other dog behaviors.

Like all handling manuevers the Post Turn is best learned and mastered On The Flat before adding any obstacles. My approach is to initially lure the dog through the Post Turn and then quickly switch to rewarding the dog for success. I'll be using treats because they work well for Milo, he likes them and he still thinks when I use them, unlike his tennis ball which gets him "unhealthily excited". You should use what works best for your dog.

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The Front Cross is one of the building blocks of Agility handling. It can be used on almost every Agility course. It is also the foundation for a number of more complex handling movements (e.g. Reverse Flow Pivot and Half Cross).

In this article I'll demonstrate using a Front Cross to change from one side of your dog to the other. Another other use of a Cross is to change your dog's Lead Leg in order to initiate a turn. Here is my Front Cross definition.

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