josie
|
left and right commandsTo what extent, in agility, does a dog listen to verbal left/right commands and to what extent is it reading your body language and hand signals, to know which obstacle to tackle next? 
Our agility club told us to teach "Left" and "Right" commands. I spent ages doing this with treat pots on either side of the room, clicking the dog when she turned the right way and then treating from the relevant pot.
But when I watch the more advanced dogs at agility, it strikes me they're just following their owners' body language and the only verbal commands I hear are the names of the obstacles. It strikes me as a bit impossible to run round a course, give all verbal directions, all verbal obstacle cues etc - you'd have verbal diahorrea  Half the time, I don't think the dogs would notice if their owners said "rhubarb" instead of "left"! 
So - is it even worth teaching verbal left and right commands or not really?!
|
Marjolein
|
We where training with someone with a Sheltie last night. She's in the top 3 of best Dutch agility dogs.
She uses left and right commands. That ickle doggy goes so fast, that sometimes she just have to turn her back on her to be able to guide her to the next jump. Therefor she needs those commands.
|
Alkemist
|
I agree that they do need signals or commands to turn right or left, especially, as Mar has said, those in the higher classes, however, if you are late with your commands, or early in your training or the dog is especially focused on what he sees (which I think the Weim is) then they will follow your body language. But when you get in the higher classes you need your dog to listen more - you can even use a different pitch with each word to help the dog hear you.
It's also good fun to show just how the dog moves with you - as I posted somewhere else I was once told that if you point your boobs the way the dog needs to go, it will go - imagine a few scenarios and laugh yer head off hehe.
Nina
|
Cindy
|
Body language is extrememly important in early agility. Most people will shout NO at their dog if it is going the wrong way or over the wrong thing and lean forward whilst doing so - hence giving the body signal to carry on forwards or run straight on in a line instead of leading with their shoulder and turning the whole body in the direction you want to go. Try commanding your dog no whilst running backwards and see what it does.
I can now reqeust Hector go left or right and find myslef doing this in everyday life. Road walking to heal then and turning left? then gently say left (or right as the case may be) even using gentle pressure with your knee against their should to prompt them. If your dog will walk to heel off lead then add a flung out arm in the right direction as well as visuals are important as Hector follows the flung out arm in visual confirmation of the verbal command.
Only hard bit is remembering to invert all this if the dog is running towards you when your left becomes their right etc. Had some good fun with that one at the begining  resulting in Hector looking at me wondering why I was running in the opposite direction to him 
|
Allyson
|
It depends on the dog, the experience of the handler, speed and control over the dog and the course etc.
I have ring stewarded for Championship agility and watched the top handlers in the country (and world) handle their dogs and they use a mixture of both generally speaking.
Some of the handlers will leave their dogs at the start and walk right into the middle of the ring and then just use their voice occasionally.
Verbal commands are extremely useful when the dog is out of sight eg in a tunnel or when you work the dog from behind as obviously their peripheral vision is only so good and so if you use L and R commands the dogs are already half way there before they get out of the tunnels.
When I worked two dogs in agility both had very different styles, one was very careful but not very fast, the other was extremely fast and careful and had to be given verbal commands very early because of his style.
If I gave my slower dog the command at that moment she would turn too early.
|
munster
|
left right commandsi think it depends on your dogs. one of my munsters is very body dependent the other is so far ahead that my body is never near him so he needs direction commands from behind.
|
Cindy
|
I have always tried to teach Hector to keep an eye on me at all times and never really realised just how much he does this until I started agility as it made me realise just how much he does keep tags on me  . He is a very fast and confident dog in the contact area especially and I have no chance of keeping up with him, hence the voice control is impprtant to me. Having siad that he very rarely jumps anything just because it is there (like the Collies do  ) as one eye is always on me.
Like siad, I also think it depends on the dog.
The most amazing thing I have ever seen is the agility for the disabled owners. Individuals in wheelchairs etc just position themselves and verbally send their dogs round. They are probably using more subtle body commands as well, but God is it amazing ot watch
|
|
|
