OB160: Ring Confidence for Obedience, Rally, and Agility

Leash Handoffs

The removal of the leash is the very first activity when entering the ring in agility and once you're past the novice level in obedience and rally. This activity also involves the pressure of ring stewards approaching you and your dog to either directly take the leash from your hand or from the ground if you do agility. Allowing the dog to check out during the hand off can be difficult for some dogs to refocus once that connection is broke. Our goal is to train the dog that you playing with the leash is just another cue for attention.

If you do agility you have a few options of the type of leash and collar combo you use. All in one martingale-leashes or slip leashes are very commonly used (note: these are not legal for use in obedience/rally trials). However while they are very easy for the dog to be trained to shove their head through and put on at the end of the run, they are not easy to take off and still have the dog keep focus. As you pull the collar off it will cover the dog's eyes and create a natural response for the dog to want to back up.

If you have a high drive dog with great natural focus on you this may not be a big deal. You will still want to train your dog to keep focus as you reach for the leash but you may be able to let the dog do this back out of the collar as long as you then train your dog to immediately offer focus again. I've underlined the word train as you should not take your dog's natural tendency in practice for granted that it will automatically transfer to a trial! If your dog already has issues with focus in a trial then I recommend ditching the martingale leash for now and using a traditional snap collar with leash separate. This will allow you to do the below steps as is, or if your dog runs without a collar you will focus on being able to unsnap the collar and leave the leash attached to it.

Method

Many dogs are so conditioned to look away when a hand reaches towards their collar that we're going to break this exercise down into several small steps. Your dog must maintain attention for each step! At any time your dog looks away, stop what you're doing and straighten up or at least pause your hand motion. Do not give your dog any type of Watch command as you will want focus to happen automatically and without you having to beg for it. Be patient. While I list only 6 steps here, in reality, each step may need to be broken down even smaller.

1. Reward dog for being in heel position.
2. Pull leash up and slide your hand down the leash a few inches. (Pulling up on the leash makes it easier to find the clip, especially with fluffy dogs.)
3. Pull leash up and slide your hand down the leash until you can touch the clip
4. Pull leash up and play with the clip
5. Pull leash up and unclip the leash
6. Unclip the leash and move your leash hand around

Some of you may want to start this task while you are kneeling, or your dog is sitting on a surface to raise them up in height. This will take away the leaning over aspect while your dog is getting used to their new focus criteria! 

If your dog looks down almost immediately, you may have to add even smaller steps. Maybe simply leaning forwards or beginning to reach for the collar.  Perhaps kneeling so you don't have to bend at all. Some dogs are so conditioned to look away when we reach for the collar that you'll spend a couple of days just working through that most basic step. No hurry! Take your time, until your dog can maintain attention throughout the leash removal. Any time your dog fails to maintain attention (including in the ring) stop what you are doing, stand up straight, and try again when your dog looks back up.  Giving eye contact to you can be a consent cue that they are ready to begin again, they can handle the environment!  

Here is Nala's first lesson in keeping focus.  I begin by kneeling just to rule out any leaning over issues.  She is a bit distracted at the start so I hold my food hand out to remind Nala of the doggy zen games.

At 24sec Nala nuzzled my food hand.  I could have chosen to restart by removing my hand and then trying again once she kept eye contact.  But in Nala's case, I thought keeping my hand still and waiting for Nala to figure out that A)I didn't have food there, and B)doggy zen rules tell her to ignore a closed fist anyway.  ("Doggy zen" is the class impulse control game of teaching a dog that mobbing food i nthe hand doesn't get the cookies to their mouth. They only get the food when they leave the hand alone and make eye contact with you)

At 33sec when it took her longer to look back at me I decided to present my treat hand held out as a visual reminder to keep focus on my eyes, don't mob for cookies.

This is Nala's 2nd session on leash removal.  I am able to play more with the clip:

What hand you use doesn't matter. I find it easiest to use my left hand and slide it down. If you use your right hand that's ok too!

The smaller a dog the more bending you have to do in order to reach the clip. Since this is pressure into the dog's space, progress in even smaller steps to make sure your dog is comfortable. Some handlers will find that bending their knees works easier to prevent looming over the dog. With my Corgi I usually leaned more forwards than over my side.

Chin rest leash removal:

For dogs who need a little extra structure or connection, I LOVE how a chin rest can be used to help in the leash removal process!  While this usually works easier from in front of the dog, you can also try asking for a chin rest when the dog is in heel position.  

Anne and Daisy demonstrate this technique to remove the leash (and collar).  This is after a few weeks of practice, at this point she's also building in some excitement and bounce into position!

*Note in AKC obedience/rally a snap leash is no longer required for any class done off leash. (Still required for beg novice, novice, novice group stays, and awards.) You have the option of threading a leash or even a string such as a shoelace through the dog's collar so that you are holding their "leash" in a U shape through the collar. This allows you to simply drop one end and thread the leash up. No bending down and grasping for the clip involved!

Martingale/Slip Leashes

If you do decide to use a slip or martingale leash for agility I recommend first making sure that you are able to create a big enough hole that the dog does not feel pressure around her ears as the leash slides off. The tightness will make it even more likely for your dog to look away and even back up to help the collar be removed. Otherwise the steps are similar.

Here I start kneeling on the floor with my dogs so that I can easily reach the collar and not have to bend over them. Notice that Lance finds it very easy to generalize from all his normal snap leash practice. Vito does not think it's the same game(!) and I use my doggy zen hand to help him focus as he has a strong history of knowing to give me eye contact when he sees me present cookies in my hand.  He would need further lessons with this martingale leash: