Workshops

RA320 3.1 Staying Connected Through the Rally Course

Staying Connected During the Ring Entrance and Setup

Connection starts before you walk into the ring, and continues through your ring entrance and setup routine.  When I am thinking about this particular piece in my training, I focus on two things.  First, I want my dog to be very comfortable walking into the ring.  This is not the time for the dog to get nervous.  Second, I want to make sure we have a predictable setup routine that prepares the dog for the run.

Walking into the ring can be scary for our dogs.  Usually to enter the ring you and your dog have to move through a tight environment, past tables, chairs, people, and more.  You walk through a narrow opening and right inside there is a person looking at you.  Dogs can find this very nerve-wracking, not to mention how handlers feel!  If you can set up a training environment in which you can work through some of these pressures, your dog (and you!) will be much more comfortable the day of the trial.

An easy way to start this preparation is to simply put a couple of large objects, like chairs or garbage cans, about 3-4 feet apart.  Heel up to the objects and reward for attention.  As your dog is comfortable, work on heeling through the opening, rewarding frequently.  Then stick a chair near the objects and navigate through that, rewarding your dog for attention.  You can have a person sit on the chair, or stand near the “entrance” to your ring.  Use different objects to create your ring entrance.  Eventually if you can set up something with gates to look like a real ring that can be beneficial.

I try to make the ring a very fun place to be, so I’ll often heel through the gates and have a party with my dog.  I want a strong positive conditioned emotional response from my dog, so I spend a lot of time working on this.

In addition to “stuff” near the entrance, dogs have to learn not to worry about people looking at them.  It’s really weird the way a judge follows us around with a clipboard, so I want my dog to be okay with that picture.  I start with a person standing next to me and my dog.  If the dog looks at me instead of the person, I reward.  If the dog looks at the person, I just wait patiently and mark/reward when my dog looks at me.  Eventually I will have the judge start slowly moving, marking and rewarding when the dog looks at me.  Finally, I will start heeling, rewarding for attention.  I start with the judge a bit farther away and as the dog continues to pay attention to me and get comfortable with the judge, I have him/her come a bit closer.

While initially I work on these two things separately, as the dog is staying comfortable and doing well, I will start to combine ring entrances with people nearby.  Be sure your dog is comfortable with each step of the process before making it more difficult.

Another skill that I find essential is the ability for your dog to efficiently and attentively move to the starting area and set up in heel.  Few people realize the importance of a setup routine!  These moments start your performance and define how your run is going to go.  If you don’t have your dog’s attention at the start, it’s unlikely that you will get it later on in the course.

Each dog is different in how much warm up he or she needs, so play around with your dog.  Too little warm up and your dog might not be ready to work, but too much warm up may wear out your dog mentally.  Be sure you don’t enter through those ring gates unless you have your dog’s attention.

Attention and connection is a two-way street, so I make sure I am 100% connected to my dog from the moment I walk into the ring.  Some judges will get chatty and although I’m very polite and respectful, I don’t look at the judge.  My attention is 100% on my dog.  If the judge asks me a question I’ll respond while still staying connected to my dog.  The last thing I want to do is disconnect right when our run begins!

My routine starts when we’re warming up outside the ring.  We walk through the gate together and I take off Strive’s leash.  After her leash is off, I immediately proceed to the startline, give her my set up cue, then do a hand touch.  This all happens very quickly and we’re ready to go.

In addition, I teach my dogs a “Ready” cue to help get them back if they are looking around at the judge or the environment.  I train this long before I even think about entering the ring.  I set up the dog in heel, then say “Ready!” and treat the dog.  I do this many times, until the dog perks up as soon as I say “Ready!”  Then I’ll start the conversation that I’ll have with the judge.  I’ll say “Are you ready?” and respond “Ready!” and treat.  Then I’ll add more to the chain.  I’ll say “Are you ready?” in a normal tone of voice, then “Ready!” the way I would say it in the ring, then I’ll say “forward” (which is what the judge says) and treat.  Last I add heel.  It looks like this:

“Are you ready?”

“Ready!”

“Forward”

“Strive, heel!” left foot steps out, I do a high hand touch, and reward.

If my dog’s attention wandered at all during our getting into the ring and setting up, my trained “Ready!” cue brings it back.  It’s a very helpful cue to have.

Here is a short clip of Strive and I at the beginning of a course.  You can see how connected we are.  Even though the judge speaks to me, I don’t disconnect from my dog.  I set her up in heel, then do a hand touch, all the while being polite to the judge and not disconnecting from my dog.  

Staying Connected in Between Signs

It’s not easy to navigate a rally course with all of the signs while staying connected to your dog.  Many dogs need a lot of connection from their handlers, and if we don’t give it to them they will often disconnect and their attention will wander.  When there are a whole bunch of distractions nearby, we don’t want our dogs disconnecting!

Knowing the signs very well, so you can recognize them quickly upon first glance, is critical to your success in staying connected to your dog.  If you need to read the sign and study where the stop signs are or think about it much, your dog will feel that attention shift.

When I heel with my dog, I look in front of her about 3 feet or so.  This allows her to see that I’m connected to her, and it allows me to see what’s coming up next.  Try this exercise.  Put your arms slightly out from your sides.  Look straight forward and move your hands.  Can you see your hands?  Now look down in front of you and move your hands again.  How about now?  When you look down, your peripheral field of vision widens significantly.  Be sure when you’re heeling with your dog through a course, you are staying connected and looking towards the ground, so you can see what’s coming up.  When you look at a sign, try to glance with your eyes and not move your whole head.

Check out this recent Rally run with Strive.  Notice how my head position is fairly consistent, and I stay connected to her.  Every once in a while I glance up, but my head is mostly staying down, and I’m never obviously disconnecting.

There will be times that you need to look up, or double check a sign, so it’s a good idea to practice that with your dog.  Start without any distractions and your dog in heel position.  Stay really connected to your dog, then glance up and forward.  As soon as you do, mark and treat in position.  When you’ve done this a few times, you can do the same thing while you're slowly heeling.  Look up and forward, immediately mark and reward.  You want your dog to expect something good to happen when you disconnect.  Once you can do this slowly, start heeling at a normal speed, then eventually put in distractions like signs, cones, even toys, if the dog is ready for that.  This training will help the dog get through the times that you have to disconnect.

If you take the time to think about each of these tips, and work on training them and learning your signs well, you’ll find that staying connected to your dog is much easier, and if you do disconnect your dog won’t immediately check out.  Remember that we as handlers are half of the team and it’s important that we do our part in supporting our dogs.