36 replies to this topic

[arf2184]

Last time I tried calling a jump it didn't respond, It just stood there, looking like a jump.

Lol!

Meg is slow and sometimes distracted in agility so if she's moving in the general direction of the jump I will say 'over' when I'm trying to get her attention on the task at hand. I get tongue tied enough as it though so if I don't have to tell her to jump, I don't.

I really don't think she listens to me much when we're on a course anyhow. If I say the right thing, but am pointed at the wrong thing, she'll do the wrong thing. She's more of a body reader, which I think is why she runs so slow...she's trying to stick close so she can see me. We've been working on verbal cues more at home...I try not to give her any body language and just say 'tire' or 'weave' and wait for her to do it. Its going well and we're improving our distance at home too...not in class yet though.

[MrSnappy]

Our class t-shirts this year say "Shut Up And MOVE" on them, which probably tells you all you need to know about how much we are supposed to speak on course I basically only call contacts and tunnels/weaves, and do not speak about jumps at all. I think it would be incredibly tiring to have to call every single freaking obstacle. I would have no left breath left to run!

The bad habit I do have is saying my dogs' names in place of any kind of command whatsoever ... in a variety of wheedling, threatening and panicked intonations. The end result of this nasty habit is that sometimes they just flip me the paw when I say their name to get their attention. But oddly enough, they mostly seem to understand which version of their name means what, and frequently do what my brain wanted to them to do, even though my mouth just said their name and nothing else.

RDM

[gooddogs74]

I generally don't call jumps. My brain is too slow. If it is in front of the dog or on a set line, I expect them to take it unless told otherwise. I do have a verbal cue to jump but rarely use it. The words I most often get out are name, come, turn, go and a contact cue.

[SS Cressa]

Maybe not speaking the obstacles out loud but i have a bad tendency to think loudly in my head the obstacles. Fortunately Cressa generally gets what i want but sometimes my thoughts gets scrambled for her to decipher.

Troy normally needs the obstacles more interesting and verbal helps him stay in the game. Yelling each obstacles out though would never work for me since teeter/tire/tunnel/table are all interchangeable for me.

Given i have only trained two border collies i would guess they were more body sensitive then verbal. Verbal is more of an attention grabber. I prefer running quiet then rabbling on the course and our performance does way better when i shut up.

[mum24dog]

The bad habit I do have is saying my dogs' names in place of any kind of command whatsoever ... in a variety of wheedling, threatening and panicked intonations. The end result of this nasty habit is that sometimes they just flip me the paw when I say their name to get their attention. But oddly enough, they mostly seem to understand which version of their name means what, and frequently do what my brain wanted to them to do, even though my mouth just said their name and nothing else.

Although my daughter is very verbal on course with her BC, she runs our little mongrel for the most part on name only as you describe. I'm probably to blame for that as I trained and used to run her.

Both dogs are Grade 7 which is our top grade - proof that you should go with what works for each dog, not what other people expect you to do.

[mum24dog]

Yelling each obstacles out though would never work for me since teeter/tire/tunnel/table are all interchangeable for me.

We only have 2 T options since the teeter is a seesaw to us and we rarely see a table but getting tunnel and tyre mixed up between brain and mouth is quite common. I'm sure we've all found that if there is a conflict between verbal and physical cue most dogs will go with the physical.

[SecretBC]

I got a lot of flack not all that long ago on the NADAC list when I complained about how god damn annoying it is when people go around the course shouting the name of every obstacle they wish their dog to take, usually in a fairly high-pitched tone of voice.

Even worse is watching these handlers on a Hoopers course -- I want to stick a fork in my ears when I hear them HOOTING out, "Hoop! Hoop! Hoop! Hoop!" Come on, there are 22 hoops out there in the ring with you. Do you really think that your dog needs to be told, "Hoop!" when there are no other obstacles to take??

Once the dog has a basic understanding of agility and handling, they should know that the name of the game is to follow the path that the handler gives them and to take any obstacles which end up in that path.

The more words we throw that them, especially if those words are fairly meaningless to the dog, essentially trains them to tune us out. How is the dog supposed to differentiate between the mundane (Jump! Jump! Jump!) and the truly important cues (Come! Turn! Switch! Out!)? If you eliminate the pointless stuff, the important stuff has more of an impact on the dog and they don't have to concentrate so much on trying to figure out if you are actually giving them an important directive.

I will occasionally name the tunnel on course because my dogs find it motivating and it can give a boost in speed. I name the teeter so they know to put on the brakes and not go flying over it like it's a dog walk. The weaves are named so that they collect as required to make the entry. Dog walk and a-frame are both "up" and I will almost always use that cue, if nothing else to solidify the obstacle name for times of discrimination.

But to sit and call out every jump on course... Well, I just find it annoying. Not enough to do anything about it, but I tend to inwardly roll my eyes when I hear it. Mostly because I just think it's pointless, and in the case of many teams I see locally -- Not helping their cause at all.

[alligande]

When I started out I was one of those annoying novice handlers who said over over over tunnel over over ........ At my first trial I was so impressed by the silent handlers that I vowed I was going to that. Now the more I have learned I have realized silence is not always best, I do use over when I feel he needs some more direction, but I would feel silly saying over over over when what else would he be doing when we are staring right at a jump.
There is always the reality of the fact I am just trying to remember the course, and run fast enough to get my crosses in, remember what my arms are supposed to be doing, and all the other things I have paid trainers to teach me, that actually speaking coherent words is usually the last thing to happen.

[Root Beer]

I still want to go through a CPE Jumpers course someday calling every jump "duck" and every tunnel "goose"!!!

[PSmitty]

I still want to go through a CPE Jumpers course someday calling every jump "duck" and every tunnel "goose"!!!

[Kelleybean]

I still want to go through a CPE Jumpers course someday calling every jump "duck" and every tunnel "goose"!!!

OMG that is too funny! PLEASE DO IT and be sure to post a video for us!!!!
I double-dog-dare ya!!

[Root Beer]

OMG that is too funny! PLEASE DO IT and be sure to post a video for us!!!!
I double-dog-dare ya!!

Hahaha. I will sometime. After Tessa gets a little more experience under her belt. She hasn't even done a Jumpers course yet in CPE, but once we knock some more of the green off, we'll do that sometime.

[Laurelin]

My old instructors called every obstacle and my new one does not. It's been an adjustment for me since I tend to talk TOO much during any kind of training. I really think your body language and sending the dog to the right obstacle is clearer to the dog than screaming 'Mia jump! Mia jump! Mia teeter!' Yes, I was one of those obnoxious people.

My dogs aren't border collies though so that doesn't answer that question.

[BillieNZ]

We do a really fun "silent night" course at our club's end of year/Christmas function. On course you can't say anything, or clap/click/stomp etc, everyone is always so surprised when the dogs go clear for the most part!

[Crysania]

I don't call jumps with my BC mix. I found if I talked too much it confused her and she's keep turning to me. When I'd try calling jumps she would crash them as she tried to turn midair. Now if I just RUN and use body language, she stays with me and takes the jump.

I only use my voice to call her out of tunnels, tell her to "touch" on contacts, and I'm working on a teeter command as she doesn't seem to differentiate the teeter from the dog walk upon first coming to it (she runs all the way up the teeter before it started to move and then frantically hangs on as it falls).

Apparently I say so little that one judge was prompted to come over and ask if my dog were deaf, which cracked me up. But we're just at level 1 and it was a pretty easy course so I didn't have to say much.

[Rave]

I did think of one instance where I call jumps and it was from a team snooker course at regionals this past weekend. I spent one part of the course just telling my dogs what not to take, when I finally got them lined up to the correct jump, I did tell them to jump it! lol

[PSmitty]

All bets are off with Snooker! Whatever gets it done, I say!