Agility training

Yes, I have discovered that as well!  I have a velcro dog and am still trying to figure out ways to get her to work away from me.  She turns to me after most obstacles so she's not in a direct line anymore.  We're working on "go on" and "out" so we've got lots of road to travel yet!

I'm glad I am making more sense now... []
 
Would you mind posting how you (and I assume most people) use agility commands...Your way might be much easier and I wouldn't want people thinking they had to do it "my" way if its not suitable for their dog.
The main reason for the set-up of Dodger's directional commands is because he likes having his own space to work in...

I use to following:
 
-left (and then the name of the obstacle I want him to take next) which means go left.  It doesn't matter where I am in relation to him.  So if it was jump and then left to another jump I'd cue him "left over" as he was committed to the first jump which would tell him that after than jump he should go left and then go over the next jump.  (over is my jump command)
 
-right (same as above)
 
-go on: go ahead of me, so sending ahead a jump or line of jumps would be "go on over"
 
-get out: move laterally away from me.  so sending my dog out to a tunnel would be "get out tunnel".   So if my dog was on my left a "get out" would make him move laterally away to the left, and on my right he'd move right. 
 
In my mind, left and right are directionals and go on and get out aren't.  Not really sure why I think that but it could be because going left or right is not dependent on my position while the other two are.
 
I don't have a back command because other than gamblers in order to do back to back obstacles I don't see where I'd use it much.  I know some people teach a "look back" and use it effectively.  One of my dogs will eventually learn "look back" as a command on sheep so I guess I could conceivably someday use it in agility too but I doubt I would.
 
Left and right are tricky commands to use because in order to use them on the fly you need to be able to think on your feet.  I generally walk a course and know where I'll use them so they are not unplanned.  Some people just use "turn" to mean turn away from me and that's just as effective as left and right.
 
If your commands work for you then it doesn't matter what you call them as long as they make him do what you want!

I agree, as long as it works!  My problem with left and right is that I have to picture my hand in front of my face with my palm out and my thumb and forfinger making an "L" shape to know!!  Can't do that in a trial!  lol.. so I use "turn".   Otherwise my commands are the same as agilebcs.    Except I use jump instead of over.

Can I  add to your thread?  What do you use as a command for the following.  As far as I know, these are the "Official names" of the obstacles.
Table
Jump(including spreads/broads)
Tire jump
Dog Walk
A-Frame
Tunnel
Chute
Teeter/SeeSaw
Weave poles

Table
Jump(including spreads/broads)
Tire jump
Dog Walk
A-Frame
Tunnel
Chute
Teeter/SeeSaw
Weave poles

Mine are:
Table -table
Jump(including spreads/broads) -jump
Tire jump -tire
Dog Walk -walkit
A-Frame -frame
Tunnel -tunnel
Chute -chute
Teeter/SeeSaw -teeter
Weave poles-weave

Not very original of me....but there ya go.

I'm not very original either - mine are identical to yours - but I say "walk" instead of "walkit"...Although I am starting to like the sound of "walkit" better!![]

I'm severely mathmatically challenged but thankfully I can think on my feet and can get out left and right if I have to. 
 
My names for obstacles:
 
Table - table
Jump(including spreads/broads) - over
Tire jump - tire
Dog Walk - walk it or just walk
A-Frame - walk it or just walk
Tunnel - tunnel
Chute - tunnel
Teeter/SeeSaw - bang ('cause that's the sound it makes and it comes out easily)
Weave poles - poles
[align=right]

Pitbullemily, so are you trying to tell me that I need to work on her attention skills?  Is that what I am getting from you?  Just want to make sure....heheheheheee   [][8D]  (Sarcasm, one of my many "special" gifts heheheee)
 
So, exactly how do you work on attention?  I have used the technique of holding a treat in one hand and waiting until she looks at me, when she looks at me, click and treat.  This gets really repetitious after a couple of times and then she doesn't even bother looking at the treat, no challenge.  It take Nigel a lot longer to get the hang of this one....hahahahaaa
 
Tashakota, I would love to have that spreadsheet.  Something along the lines of $12 and $15 I wouldn't mind leaving behind when we left.
 
So, correct me if I am wrong, but I'm thinking that we really need to start at the basics here and will start working beyond the "touch" to targeting.  Right now all she "touches" is my hand.  So, start substituting hand for a target, right?  Ok, we'll go with that one for the moment and I have no idea how to get started on the "back" "cross" etc, so I'll have to re-read everyone's posts and start reading my book.
 
If anyone else has any ideas on short, in house things to start working on, I would love it!!!!  Thanks sooo much for all of the help an suggestions!  We all appreciate it!

Terri-
 
You can put a target in your hand and then move the target to the floor and progress from there.  Make sure you have a high rate of reward and don't do too much at once!  Remember to make her successful and if she doesn't "get" something take a step back.
 
I wouldn't worry at all about back or cross or anything else right now.  If you can make just 1 jump you can do a whole lot with it but even before that there's a lot you can do. 

ORIGINAL: nigguysmom

Pitbullemily, so are you trying to tell me that I need to work on her attention skills?  Is that what I am getting from you?  Just want to make sure....heheheheheee   [][8D]  (Sarcasm, one of my many "special" gifts heheheee)

So, exactly how do you work on attention?  I have used the technique of holding a treat in one hand and waiting until she looks at me, when she looks at me, click and treat.  This gets really repetitious after a couple of times and then she doesn't even bother looking at the treat, no challenge.  It take Nigel a lot longer to get the hang of this one....hahahahaaa...

hey, I'm glad I came through!


that's great that she already knows attention... does she have a cue word? (for example "watch")? If not, work on that.. and then work on it in various situations. So when you go for a walk and you see something has caught her eye, give her the command.... keep upping the ante of difficulty. She won't get bored.

Agiliy trials are very exciting stressful places... just getting to the starting line can be like running a gantlet!. So you want her to be able to keep her focus on you and not on the other doggies.

Pitbullemily, I think that I got that coming from you....pretty sure....[]  I have not ever used a cue word for attention.  I hold the treat out away from me, when she looks from the treat to me, then I click and treat.  When I click, is that the time to start naming it?  Or should I have good consistency in multiple situations before I start naming it.  I know that we learned that part in class but I can't remember for the life of me and I can't find my paperwork that helped us teach this.
 
I'll keep working on the "touch" and try to move that to something else besides my hand.  That will keep us occupied for a while.
 
I like to have 3 things to work on per session so neither of us gets bored and I can keep the sessions short.  I'll start working on "Look", "Touch" and I need one other skill for her to acquire.  The book that I have goes right into back and cross in one of the first couple of chapters, so maybe something else to get started.  What would you have wished you guys learned in the very beginning?  I'm totally willing to learn from other's "I wish I had done this..."
 
Thanks a ton!

With teaching attention, when the dog looks at you and you c/t and this is successful for a few repetitions, then start holding the look for longer, then c/t.  This begins to teach the dog to keep his attention on you for longer periods.

I PM'd you so I can send you the agility plans.

I wish I had taught my dogs to pause at the ends of contacts, this is the 2 on, 2 off or for my little guy, 4 on.  The trials we've gone to, they will fly off if I'm not right there leading them down the end of the contacts.  You can begin to teach this on steps or stairs.

The thing I wish I had taught from the beginning with my youngest agility dog is proper jumping skills.  He's an ok jumper but could be a lot better and he's knocked a fair amount of bars.  I'm attempting to go back and retrain him.  He's my 3rd agility dog and other than that I'm pretty happy with him.

I'd suggest getting book I of Agility Fun the Hobday Way series. Or look at other Puppy Foundation training programs, you can get various DVDs and books by various people. Most foundation training requires very little equipment. But really, it's impossible to train agility without any equipment at home. Class once a week isn't enough. You can do a lot with a few jumps and a set of weave poles, and something like a stairway or plank to work on contacts.

Ok, have stairways, can probably find a plank lying around.  Will work on foundation things and buy a couple of pvc tubes that I won't cry over if they get left behind.  Check!
 
Attention, Touch and pausing at the end of contacts.  I am assuming that this means to get the dog to pause at the end of the teeter/walk/ladder type thing, right?  That's what getting her to stop on the bottom stair is for, right?  How do I go about teaching her to do that?  Never seen anyone do that and my book doesn't go into the actual how of training the dog to do it, it tells you more of what I need to train.  Does that make sense?