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How to Correct Your Dog's Stay on the Agility Starting Line
Does your Agility Dog Stay everywhere but on the starting line?
My "over the edge Border Collie", started breaking her start
line stays after about one year of trialing. I had to go back
and examine the cause and what lead to the deterioration of her
start line stay.
As I pull pieces of the past, I realize that at first I asked
my dog, Rip, to Sit-stay at the start line. But she began to
lean and scoot, so I changed to a Down-stay. She did this for a
while until she began to crawl and creep. Then I would walk away
for a lead out, but I would continue to face her, by being face
to face, that would help her to hold her position, well it did
for a while. Then I started getting breakaways, she would no
longer wait at the starting line, as soon as I started to step
away from her side, and she would be off. That's when I pulled
her from trialing.
Why did her behavior get worse at the start line? Because I
started to negotiate with my dog, way back when she moved from
the Sit-stay, I should have made it clear that the Sit -stay was
the only behavior that
would bring the reward of running
agility. What I mistook as, "Oh, I'm asking too much for my edgy
dog to Sit-Stay on the line." She took as, "Mom, doesn't really
mean what she says when we're in this fenced ring with lots of
people around." So, she began to test every behavior I asked for
on the line. Dogs will do what we allow.
If your dog begins to break its start-line stay, whether that is
a stand, sit, or down, STOP immediately. Don't run your run. I
know you've paid your entry fees, but you'll be spending a lot
more time and money fixing the problem when it gets worse. For
some dogs, taking them off the course is deterrent enough to get
back on track. For other dogs you may have to "train" your stay
in the ring, of course you also, may be called for training and
excused from the ring, but it's most important that your dog
know that the fun can not and will not start until the Stay
stays.
About the author:
Brad Carlson is a dog trainer at Agility by Carlson. For more
training details, visit our website at
http://www.carlson-agility.com/
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