# teaching directionals for agility



## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

Any experienced agility folks have tips here? My intuition is to teach left and right outside the context of agility and then introduce it to agility once we've got it perfect, but I may be way off base here. 

Any creative ideas on how to teach it, either within the context of agility or outside it?


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## Finkie_Mom (Mar 2, 2010)

OK so I'm totally new at this (heck I haven't even trialed yet!), but I was watching a video done by Greg Derrett and he teaches directionals in a way that I thought was pretty clever/simple. He teaches his dogs to spin left and right (360 degree turns) but luring them with a game of tug (or treat if need be) - if using tug, he sort of controls the dog with the toy in the direction he wants, if that makes sense. So you would just have them go in the direction you want, without naming it yet. You should vary it and not do just one left, one right, so the dog never knows what to expect. You eventually have them just follow the toy, so that eventually you have them spinning with a mere flick of your hand/the toy to the left or right. Then you add the verbal as you're fading them off of the lure a bit - I'm using "right" for right, and "spin" for left, since left isn't as strong a word. Eventually, they should go in either direction without any physical cues from you, just verbal.

After that, you introduce it in the context of one jump. So they go over, and you should be able to have them go left or right and come back to you easily. You add more jumps/obstacles as they get the idea.

I hope that makes sense. I haven't watched the video in a while, but I'm pretty positive that's how he does it. We've been working at it, but Kimma still needs a bit of a physical cue from me so we haven't gotten to the part about using jumps.


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## Indigo (Mar 31, 2011)

I have some ideas but first I'd like to know what context the directional commands are going to be used in. Hehe.  I started writing some stuff then I wasn't sure what your ultimate goal is.

Ie. Are you trying to send your dog out ahead and chose the correct obstacle? Or is it to get them to follow you more quickly when you're turning together on course? Or is it telling them to go out left while you go right? Or something else?

Reason I ask is because I found that teaching specifically left and right in agility was not very useful in my experience (except when the crossover still existed), and can also be confusing since you and your dog aren't always facing the same direction. My dog did know left and right but it was only used for pulling sports like skijoring. If you're going very fast in agility saying "left tunnel" or "right tunnel" can be lost in translation. I found a square of jumps is more easily handled with body language than words, and commands that tell your dog to either distance themselves from you or get closer can be more valuable. If you're tying to teach obstacle discrimination (two tunnels side by side, tunnels on either side of a-frame, two jumps side by side, etc) I found a great way that worked for my dog that I can share if you're interested.

Ultimately it's up to you how you want to do it. If you really want to teach left and right I know some ways to do that too. I just wanna know what your goals are before I type it up hehe.


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## Shaina (Oct 28, 2007)

Personally I just taught Kim a turn-away-from-me cue instead of a left/right. I have not done the same with Web (slower) or Mira (may or may not). I've discovered over time that I really have only used it as a crutch if I mess up and am overriding my body cues.


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

I'm imagining a scenario where I'm so far behind Kit (cause she's so fast) that body language is relatively useless. I could also imagine using "left" and "right" to supplement a body cue, possibly to give her more notice of what's coming. Indigo, I think the commands could also be particularly useful if my body was facing in a different direction than hers, or where I needed her to go (like if I was anticipating the next move, if there was a chances line, etc.). 

Finkie, I like your idea and Kit already has "spin" and "nips" on cue, with minimal hand signals. Could you explain the part where I add in the jump in a little more detail?


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## Shaina (Oct 28, 2007)

Yeah NADAC is different with some of the games. CPE is somewhat similar in their upper level Jackpot runs depending on the course. I generally prefer good forward and lateral sends and (in Mira's case) nearly completely independent contacts/weaves to get me downcourse, so that's where I spend my training time. It's agility...there's no right or wrong, this is just my personal preference. 

Kim and Web do know right/left but I've never generalized it to agility. I just did free-shaping, first facing me than facing in my direction. Taught one side, put it on cue, taught the counterpart, but it on cue, then mixed it up.

Greg Derret's method is in his Foundations DVD iirc. The jump is literally sending the dog forward to a jump and telling them to wrap it either right or left and rewarding for correct response. So you send to the jump, and as they jump give them the right/left so the wrap the correct upright and return. When they understand the idea you can cue the right/left sooner so they are prepping for the turn before they even start. I would probably start this with a hoop instead of a jump to eliminate the potential for rewarding dropped bars and such, then move to the jump once you are able to cue the r/l early while maintaining commitment to the obstacle..


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## Indigo (Mar 31, 2011)

GottaLuvMutts said:


> I'm imagining a scenario where I'm so far behind Kit (cause she's so fast) that body language is relatively useless.


Dog's have wider peripheral vision than we do, so if you're sending your dog out ahead of you and the obstacles are not in intuitive order, you can still use some body language to help them choose the correct one. Some wide arm gestures they can still see, especially if it's a sharp moving gesture.

But since you want to learn actual left and right...
My dog learned left and right during pulling sports. If we reached a crossroads during 1-dog sledding, for example, he would slow down and wonder which way to go. I would say "left" "right" or "straight on" depending on where I wanted to go. If he chose wrong it was ok, I'd just keep the breaks on until he chose right and then praise him. I also did this while walking at the off leash park, if there was a crossroads, I'd tell him where to go and if he went the wrong way, I'd let him go but I would walk the way I needed to go. He learned pretty quick that what I said was a precursor to where I was actually going. If I had wanted to make it go faster I could have thrown a tennis ball (his favorite) in the direction I wanted him to go.


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