WRITTEN HOMEWORK Week 4: (AKA Hell Week)

 

 

    

             Week 4: This is called “Hell Week” for a reason

Dog learns to yield to handler, new turns, etc., and for the first time to string a series of exercises together to form a single new exercise. Handler and dog will have a great deal of learning/practice to do and often, this week is the time when a dog says, “No”, and learns to continue working past that ‘point of contention’.

Pre/Post-Training Session protocol

Know when to use the OUT! in public.  

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New Material:
HEELING

Week 4, the Safety Zone shrinks again to under 1’. The way to help the dog choose to remain close while heeling, no matter what, is the use of heeling posts, all the turns (including the new Left About Turn), and using heeling posts at 8’ apart to work Figure 8 in an hourglass pattern (straight lines). Auto Sits should be straight and dog should be able to read your hand position and give immediate Sit.


SIT/STAY – Increasing distance to 15'
Start increasing time and distance by using your longe line. Eight feet for eighty seconds, ten feet for a hundred seconds, and so on. By the end of the week your dog should be holding a fifteen foot Sit/Stay in high level distractions for about three minutes.


SIT/STAY - Approach by a Stranger

This week add the Approach by a Stranger.  Put your dog on a Sit/Stay - step away from your dog laterally (beside the dog) about 4'. Have a familiar person approach your dog diagonally, don't have that person look into the dogs eyes, stand beside your dog and move away.  The point is to teach your dog to accept a person approaching and hold its Sit/Stay.  Once the dog holds, then have the person lightly touch the top of the dogs head & shoulders and hips...and move away. The point is for the dog to accept a stranger approaching & being touched while it maintains its Sit/Stay.

Once your dog holds its position with the above sequencing, add new people the dog hasn't met before. You may need to have them approach initially and be 5', then 4', then 3', then 2', etc., to teach your dog to hold its position even with unknown and new people.  Once the dog can do this with new people, then add the touching sequence. REMEMBER: A Stay = A Stay..so no moving at all by the dog. 


STAND – Supported stand circles

This week you are to expand your Stand by doing circles around the dog. Always step off on your right foot and pass the dog on your right foot to help your dog understand to remain in this positon. Maintain the supported stroking of the shoulders the entire time you are circling. Start with 1 circle, then 3 circles, then 4 and etc., until you can do 6 circles and the dog remains stationary.  Always end your final circle with an Exercise Finish and praise.

PLACE

This week the Place Board and/or the Negative Space provide new training opportunities.  For example, you can send your dog to Place on the board, then do Sit/Stays with the dog on the board. Having the dog on the board reinforces the Sit/Stays. You can do the Sit/Stay and Diminishing Spirals with the dog on the Place board or inside the Negative Space.  The mechanics for the Sit/Stay are the same once the dog is on the board or inside the Negative Space.

You can do the Stand on the Place Board as you do your Supported Stand Circles. If need be, you can use your Sit/Stay Approach by a Stranger exercise with your dog on the Place Board.

LEFT ABOUT TURN

New turn and wonderfully fun for handler and dog.  Incorporate this turn whenever you feel the need to turn your dog. Works particularly well when you are on an elevated surface and/or working the dog someplace where there is a 90 degree corner. Use it often. It is a pre-conditioning exercise for the Finish in Week 5. Plus, it’s just plain fun.

FIGURE 8

This is initially taught to the dog using two (2) stationary poles approximately 8’ apart. This is done using these poles as heeling posts and the Figure 8 is taught using straight lines rather than curved.

RECALL

Use any aisle or alley, such as a hall in your home, or create an alley. This exercise is to introduce the SSIF (Straight Sit in Front) as part of the formal Recall. This is the first time your dog has had a single exercise (Sit/Stay) now strung together with a new command, “Fido, Come” to create a new exercise, the Recall. Dog must be able to hold a Sit/Stay to do learn this exercise.  Command sequence “Fido, Come, yes, Sit, Good dog.”

DOWN

This is the hardest exercise for a dog to learn as it is learning to yield to the handler’s authority. Easiest to do the initial 25 a day Downs (molding & silent) on a raised surface.  If the dog is doing the Downs by reading handlers mechanics at the end of the 3rd day, go on to the Downs (shaped + command).  You are looking for the dog to read your body mechanics and yield.  That is when you know you are ready to go to the next level of Downs.