WEAVES & RETRIEVES

AGILITY DACHSHUNDS: CONDITIONING AND TRAINING FOR SAFETY

By Sharon McDonald

Are you and your dachshund(s) weekend agility warriors? How much thought and effort do you apply to conditioning and safety in your agility program?

I’ve been training and competing in agility since 2003. In my early years, I attended class once per week, and went from couch-to-courses on the weekends. Along the path, rules and equipment have evolved to make the sport safer for all dogs. We have break-away tires, the chute has been eliminated, the A-frame lowered, teeters shocks, ascending double, etc. Over these 19 years, I’ve learned a lot of lessons in my role in making agility safer for my dogs. I’ve changed my training methods, my obstacle criteria, and even added athletic conditioning to my program.

I’ll review a few of the important things that “I” do in my program. Keep in mind that I am not a veterinarian nor am I a canine physical fitness expert. These notes are just based on my personal experience and adaptations. I don’t endorse nor refute any specific methods of training. I’m going to simply describe my approaches. You may take away what you choose or leave that which you feel is not appropriate for your team. the back rounded, legs and feet should be tucked to clear the jump bars; 5 – finally, the dog must land and smoothly stride out. Susan Salo uses a series of jump grids to teach dogs these components of jumping. I’ve used her grids not only to teach the behavior, but also on-going in my training to reinforce and maintain conditioning. *ACTION - Next time you are training or competing, film your dog. Examine the five points. Think about where you can help improve for safety, efficiency, and conditioning.

CONTACT OBSTACLES

When I first began agility, I chose to do “running contacts” with my dogs. In reality, I didn’t train any specific behavior for contacts and instead just allowed my dogs to run off the obstacles as they pleased. This is not technically a “running contact”. Problems crept up for my dogs. They would run off the end of the teeter, and as the teeter recoiled from the ground, the dog got “spanked” in the rear as they exited the teeter, or tossed in the air with recoil upward

swing. If I diverged away from the dog walk, my dog could conceivably come off the side and literally miss the yellow zone! On the A-frame, my dogs always hit the yellow zone, BUT would sometimes leap from high up and cause me to gasp! These behaviors were all injuries in the making! In one weekend, both Gee! and Sierra developed a teeter fear after being repeatedly spanked and tossed by teeter recoil. It took months to re-train and regain confidence. So here’s what I now demand for my contact performances:

1 – TEETER

I’ve trained my dogs to race past the pivot point to the end of the teeter. As they ride the teeter down, they lower their center of gravity (ideally lay down). The behavior I expect at the end of the teeter is for my dog to SIT and wait seated until I give my release. I can quite literally run full speed past the teeter, shouting “SIT, WAIT”. My dog sits and waits. I am clear, consistent and confident in my criteria. Repeated drilling ensures that they understand their job. I have a fast teeter and a quick release. The dog’s

Let’s start! JUMPING

Many competitors take for granted that jumping is just about clearing a jump without the bar coming down. I sure did, until Sierra began to consistently knock the back bar of the double jump. This was my first awakening to get smarter about my agility training. Have you ever watched track and field hurdles? We can all pretty much jump over something, but those hurdle athletes must be trained in the proper form to efficiently and effectively clear the jump. The same applies to our dogs. I discovered Susan Salo and her methods of teaching proper jumping skills for agility dogs. There are others who teach jumping skills, but Salo is what I know. She discusses the anatomy of jumping as having several components for the dog:

1 – judge the most appropriate take-off point; 2 – use front legs for the proper elevation and trajectory; 3 – use rear legs to push and propel airborne; 4 – in flight, the dog’s head should be down and weight and stillness counteracts the bounce from the teeter recoil. No more spankings!

2 – A-FRAME

* To ensure a safe and controlled descent down the A-frame, I trained a true running contact behavior. In the beginning for Gee! in 2009, my trainer suggested using a mouse-pad at the base of the A-frame. On the flat, I taught her first to touch the mouse pad with her front paws and stay. Eventually I added movement toward the mouse pad with a touch, pause and quick release. Finally I taught her to run, touch and keep running. Once Gee! was proficient on the flat, I moved the behavior to the base of the AFRAME. Amazingly this worked! * In recent years, Raycer has shown me that I needed to teach HIM a safe approach to the upramp of the A-frame. One too many times he jumped too big and slammed his poor little body into the obstacle. I used a stride regulator on the ground to force him to stride up the A-frame rather than to leap upon it.

3 – DOG WALK

As mentioned, my concern with the dog walk was that my dog would sometimes leap off the side, especially if I was diverging away from the obstacle. I used the mouse pad to train and condition my dogs to run straight thru to the bottom of the ramp regardless of my position or movement.

A few notes on my contact training evolution: I currently use a ding-dong door mat at the base of the A-frame and dog walk in my training. The audible sound lets me know for certain that the dog has hit the correct place on the obstacle. Additionally, I use a stride regulator bar on the dog walk and A-frame down ramps placed at the point where the color changes to yellow. This helps the dog maintain a proper stride vice a leap as they descend. Finally, I use these training aides consistently when training. *ACTION – film and observe your dog’s contact behaviors. Where are they exiting the dog walk? The A-frame? Are they striding through or are they jumping? Is there a teeter recoil that could lead to a spanking? What can you modify for safer obstacle performance?

HANDLING and CUES

HANDLING - I consider my own handling a factor in my dog’s safety on a course. Am I going to put too much pressure on their line and force a distracted or dangerous error? When should I keep my dog in extension and when is it best to put them in collection? Should I use a blind cross and keep speed in a gradual turn or should I execute a front cross to force collection for a sharper yet safer turn? When should I use

verbal cues and when should I hush and let my dog do its’ job? Does my dog have a good balance of both obstacle and handler focus? Ideally, I want my dog watching me in his/her peripheral vision while confidently focused on their obstacle performance. I want to choose the appropriate handling maneuver.

CUES - Are you a “busy” handler? Do you run with flailing arms and shouting noises? Do you effectively communicate with your dog as you navigate the course? Do you think of the multiple handling cues as you walk your strategy? The biggies are: Eyes, feet, motion, hands / shoulders, verbals, position, etc Providing clear and concise cues gives the most accurate information to your dog as you navigate a course. With clear information on “what’s next”, your dog no longer needs to worry about YOU and can focus on executing their performance as you’ve trained. I strive to employ at least 3 of the mentioned handler cues for each maneuver. YOU MATTER. *ACTION – as you walk a course and plan your handling strategy, do you consider your dog’s safety in relation to your choices? Ponder how your choices will impact.

STRENGTH AND AEROBIC CONDITIONING

I admit that I am probably the weakest in this regard. I try to not be a couch to course competitor, but life can interfere. For aerobic conditioning, I love to go in my yard in the evenings and throw the ball. My dogs love it with gusto! I do ‘bounce jumps’ and jump grid work to build muscle and physical conditioning. I have a treadmill that I use occasionally for stamina. I have FitBall equipment (a peanut, disc, and bone). I use these mostly for core conditioning. In summers I have a small 12’ swimming pool (mostly for myself, but the dogs swim too). *ACTION – Are you a couch-to-course competitor? How can you help your dog obtain and sustain good physical condition for your chosen sports?

YOUR CONDITIONING

effort into my own conditioning. Chances are that our personal injuries outnumber those of our dogs. Do you stretch before running? I nearly always see folks at the warm up jump, but I rarely see the handlers warming themselves up with stretching. I’m working on these things for myself. *ACTION – Get busy! Give yourself the same attention to conditioning that you give to your dogs!

In conclusion, I hope there’s something in here that causes you to consider how you impact and manage the health, conditioning, and safety of your dachshund athlete! As you consider the action items, check with your trainer and coaches with regard to where you may be able to make improvements. If you can’t film yourself, then ask your buddies to observe you and your dog. Seek honest and candid feedback and be open to making changes where necessary.

Finally, I feel a need to reiterate that I’ve simply described MY chosen methods of training. You choose what techniques work best for your dog and fit with your program. Good luck. Run clean. Run safe!!