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Self-release contact training


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The topic of a self-release contact came up in another thread [stopped vs. running contacts].

 

I would love to hear how it is trained. Training instructions welcomed. Any links to on-line videos?

 

Also, what are the pros and cons? Can this behavior degrade when the dog amps up for competition and how to maintain criteria?

 

Looking forward to your responses.

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Shirley Chong -- a dog trainer I hugely admire -- said that it is easier to teach a dog "sometime" instead of "never." That, and a human tendency to not be entirely consistent (i.e. an tendency to not maintain criteria under trial stress) is why I have real stopped contacts and "touch and go" contacts. Some of this was trial (pun intended) and error, and then I thought about what was happening and made it more deliberate.

 

I taught my younger dogs 2o2o contacts in the usual fashion, with a verbal obstacle cue ("Up"), and a cue for the end behavior ("touch). They had to stay until released by the release word. My BC boy is ditzy, so I started adding "stay there" in order to encourage him to remain on the contact while I ran past. We got some trial experience and I started letting them come off in a "touch and go" situation -- so I started repeating the "stay there" command when I really needed to get ahead of my dogs to handle the line (my Terv has a very fast dogwalk). So this has morphed into a deliberate issue, where I don't enforce criteria if I haven't asked for a stay. It makes me more conscious of whether I need my dog to hold a contact or not, as well as working out how far downstream I need to be before I release them. So far so good.

 

My contacts are not true running contacts (too much training for me plus the Terv is so big he can stride over the yellow in extension) but they are pretty fast. And the choice of hold versus go makes me much more conscious about my criteria in running a course.

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. . . it is easier to teach a dog "sometime" instead of "never."

 

That makes sense to me, although it is not something that you hear often in training contexts.

 

Coming from a Freestyle background, I need my dogs to be versatile. They need to understand the concept of "sometimes". Sometimes I want paws up on me. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I want heeling on the left and sometimes I want it on the right. Sometimes I want a string of leg weaves, and sometimes I want a single leg weave. Sometimes I want a circle around a pole. Sometimes poles (in a line) mean weaves.

 

So, the idea of "sometimes I want you to stop and wait and sometimes I will release you early" just seems logical and reasonable.

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Never used an end cue for our youngster. No need as the position is his default behaviour. He stays until Go.

 

He's been competing less than a year and is perfectly capable of winning without risking his contacts by early release although we will probably end up doing that when it matters. Most runs aren't important.

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I'm NOT trying to talk anyone into this, but was providing information. This method works for me.

 

And yes agility is a game, but if we really didn't care a little bit, we'd never compete but just meet for seminars and the like.

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gonetotervs -

Thanks so much for your reply. I am always interested in optional strategies for training.

 

If I am understanding correctly, your dogs are allowed to continue through the contact UNLESS they hear a 'stay there'? [as opposed to the more traditional 'stay on the contact until released' ]?

 

One question I have is: if they do not hear a 'stay there', will they usually stride through the contact zone [because they are slowing down expecting to stop?] What prevents them from jumping over the contact zone?

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