The following is a way to train turns by breaking the behavior into simple steps and shows the apparatus we use. Of course non-coercive training techniques, a strong tug-drive and having a clicker-savy dog are major assets to developing a good turn quickly.

As you will see, each step is very simple and in many cases you can easily move through each step in only one session. We do not move on to the next step until we are sure the dog understands the current step fully. Every time I have seen people taking shortcuts I have found problems or poor techniques result. Training sessions only last a few minutes, each starts with one or two repetitions of the previous lesson to get the dog excited and confident. When introducing the next step, if the dog doesn't get it after a couple of tries we go back to the previous step to ensure a high rate of reward. You can also throw in some other tricks to keep the dog working with you, then go back and try again. Too many failures in a row will cause unnecessary frustration and confusion and can cause the dog to loose it's confidence. This will result in exactly the attitude you don't want when playing this game. Breaking an activity into simple steps is the easiest way to keep it fun and exciting. Of course the cues you use for your commands don't matter and you should use whatever your dog is familiar with or you are comfortable with.

 

HUP

We use rain-gutters (eaves-troughs) as our jump-aid for a variety of reasons. I prefer to use these rather than a flyball jump since we use jump-aids for a variety of purposes which tie in to each other. I also like their width, their rounded edges and the fact that they don't get caught up in the dogs feet during clumsy moments. They are cheap and easy to move around with one hand. Many people use flyball jumps or modified jumps effectively as jump-aids. Initially, I use three lengths of rain gutter attached together as a pyramid. I want the prop to be high enough that the dog will jump over it rather than step over it. Know which way you want your dog to turn and stand to that side, so that when the dog turns into you he is turning in the direction you will want him to use for his box turn.

First I get my dog driving and focused by tugging with him, then I set my dog a couple of feet back from my prop (jump-aid), and call the dog over. I don't want to run away from the prop since the next exercise will involve the dog going over the jump, immediately turning around and jumping back over the prop. If necessary, I will take a couple of steps away from the jump to draw the dog over.

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If he goes over, we play tug for a minute. If the dog goes around, I vocally keep him energized with encouragement but he doesn't get the tug. I take him back, set him up, and try again. As soon as he is committed to the jump and can't change course I give a good "YES" or CLICK. For most aspects of training turns I prefer just using a "yes" to indicate when the dog has performed the action which is earning him the reward. That way my hands are free to play. I was taught to use the clicker for situations requiring more precision.

A few good repetitions and the dog understanding the task is all there is to the first session. This step familiarizes the dog with my jump-aid, and at this point I am not concerned about using my tug as a lure. I usually only spend a couple of minutes on this and then put the dog away for a short period to let him think about it and keep up his desire. It is always best to quit with the dog wanting more.

POP-OFF-THE-WALL

Concurrent to training the hup we start training a 'Pop-off-the-wall' which Susan taught Tooie when she first started doing flyball. It is an excellent exercise to develop a quick rotation off the box. The fastest turns I have ever seen were a result of the dog using its front-end effectively as well as its hind-end rather than relying on its rear legs to torque its body around. At this point you should know which way your dog prefers to turn.

A good beginner activity in clicker training is teaching your dog to touch the end of a stick. A quick way to get the dog started is to rub a bit of food on the end of the stick. When they touch the end of the stick to smell it, you click and reward. For this you could also use a 'YES' if you don't already use a clicker. Most dogs catch on after a couple of repetitions and a bit of patience. Don't put the stick in the dog's face, wait for the dog to come to the stick. (I won't go into clicker training since there's a wealth of info already available.)

Once your dog is touching reliably, stand to the side which your dog will be turning towards and hold the stick up against the wall just out of the dog's reach so it must stand on its hind legs with its front feet against the wall in order to touch the stick. Click when the front feet touch the wall then move away from the wall so your dog drops back down to the floor, then reward. If you reward when the dog is still against the wall you may end up with him stuck there waiting for a treat. Once your dog is placing his feet against the wall and coming off reliably give it a command such as "pop". Remember to keep training sessions short. Now when you see your dog responding reliably to 'pop' you can start phasing out the stick, and with time you slowly move away from the wall so you end up sending your dog to do its Pop-off-the wall.

You only want the dog to be using its front legs since you are trying to develop the front end push and strengthen the associated muscles. Do not do too many repetitions at one time so as not to over-stress the joints. I prefer to switch over to a tug once I can stand back and send my dog since this develops more speed in its rotation than coming back for food.

 

HUP-AGAIN

Hup-Again simply adds on to the first Hup exercise but requires much better timing on the handlers part. To start, I usually straddle the prop for this, again on the side of the prop that the dog will be turning towards, with the tug hidden behind my back. Set the dog up, give your verbal cue, use a strong shoulder twist to get the dog over the prop, then bring the tug back over the prop with an "Again" and step back to the side the dog started on. I find it best to keep the tug low to prevent bad habits from forming which would carry over to the ramp work.

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Using Celt who turns left as my example, I'll go over it in more detail. I've got the dog set and I'm straddling the end of the prop on the dog's left. I have my tug in my left hand hidden behind my back. I send the dog over and swing my right shoulder forward to make the dog think I'm running ahead of him as he goes over and enticing him to make the jump. As soon as he is over the jump I swing my left shoulder back towards the center turning back in the direction the dog came from, bringing my left hand with the tug down and telling the dog "Again" which causes him to turn left immediately upon landing and jump back over the prop. If he does it correctly he gets to tug, if not he gets encouragement and gets set up again. Don't allow more than two failures in a row without giving him a task he knows and rewarding him before trying again. Expect the dog to second guess you and try heading you off as you turn back before he goes over the prop, it's the intelligent thing to do. Be prepared to keep the tug from him and only let him get it once he's done it right, but don't get upset with him for being smart. Have fun with it. Joke with him if he tries to outguess you. and then try again.

The next video shows me standing further back from the prop. At first, while straddling the jump, I start by using the tug as a lure again, but after a couple of repetitions I wait to see if he has figured out what he has to do to earn his reward. If necessary I alternate between luring and waiting to see if he'll do it on his own and try to keep it fun and avoid him getting frustrated. Once he shows me that he understands, I'll start moving further away from the jump.

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Before I move on to the ramp it is critical that I can send the dog to do the Hup-Again while I'm standing well back from the prop and without luring. By spending the time here and doing a thorough job I can move right into developing a technically correct turn when I go to the ramp. If I'm still luring the dog over the prop when I put it in front of the ramp I will have the dog looking up, jumping up with poor foot location and having terrible rotation which I will then have to correct. It is much faster not creating the problem than correcting it.

 

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RAMP

I constructed a ramp which is much wider and shallower than our box to use as an intermediate step. I have found this very helpful, since most dogs are tentative about jumping sideways onto a steep, narrow box with all four feet. This step reduced our training time from weeks in some cases, to minutes in most. The biggest problem we originally had was getting the dog to put all four feet up onto the box. Quite often trying to get a four-foot turn created so much confusion and frustration for both the dog as well as us, that we all dreaded working on it. Now what usually occurs is that the dog finds bouncing off the ramp to be a very fun exercise, it is so much easier than changing directions on the ground. They usually offer the behavior without prompting and the challenge becomes getting them to wait until you ask them to do it.

Here are pictures comparing our ramp to our flyball box.

A ramp can be built quite easily. Here's a picture of the first one I built. Cedar was the first dog that I trained using this method and he successfully learned his flyball turn from this ramp and didn't seem to mind it's appearance. When dealing with a confident dog or puppy we quite often will be spending a very short time using the ramp so unless you expect to be using it for numerous dogs, I wouldn't recommend spending a lot of time constructing it. If you do agility and have access to an A-frame you could use this as an alternative.

I consider it very important that the ramp does not move when the dog jumps on it so I either fasten it securely to the ground or place it up against a wall. Since the dog now understands that his task is to go over the jump-aid and come back, simply placing the prop in front of the ramp will often result in him doing a four-foot turn.

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Celt

I've added movies of Chizel our Dutch Shepherd doing a ramp turn to illustrate the fact that this method is very helpful in developing a swimmer's turn with large dogs.

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Chizel

In the event that a dog is hesitant about jumping onto the ramp, I will first move the prop away from the ramp and repeat the Hup-Again to make the dog comfortable with a familiar task. Then I place the prop far enough out from the ramp that there is enough room for the dog to land on the ground between the jump-aid and the ramp and try again. Then it's simply a matter of slowly moving the prop closer in to the ramp through repetitions. The dog will usually inadvertently step on the ramp as it gets closer and with no bad experiences, lose his fear. Occasionally I may have to use my tug as a lure to get the dog to step up onto the ramp but I try to avoid it if possible.

It is not uncommon to have a dog miss the ramp with it's back legs when attempting it's turn. I have not had this cause any problems so far and basically ignore it and send them again.

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Sometimes it is simply a case of the dog needing to make an adjustment but there are two other things that can cause this. One is if I am standing too close to the center which forces my dog to go wide, the other is not having the jump-aid aligned with the ramp. I have found that if the prop sticks out from the ramp on the same side as their rear feet, they are more likely to miss the ramp. It seems to fool them into thinking the ramp is wider than it actually is. Of course there is not a problem on their front end because they can see that edge of the ramp.

Once I have a reliable turn off the ramp, I start working on improving their rotation. After sending them to the ramp, I move away at an angle opposite to their turn. In the case of Celt, when he is turning left I move off to the right causing him to increase his angle of rotation. Usually after a couple of repetitions the dog will anticipate your path and tighten his turn.

 

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We are now ready to move onto the flyball box.

 

Photos

Teez

Tex

Movies

Celt

Chizel

Snap

Vice