By Alison Galloway

Exercises to improve contact zones from the Agility Spotlight article on Susan Garrett of Canada, she has a Jack Russell terrier!! She believes that obedience training and agility training go hand in hand and complement each other.

Place the dog at the end of obstacles with contact zones-rear feet on the obstacle, front feet on the ground; place the dog on a stay; use the word target as the command for the location; release the dog and make a big deal out of releasing the dog. (Susan says it is the balance between rewarding the dog for doing the contact properly and making a great game out of the release that makes her dogs so good at contacts.) Once you think the dog understands the target command try running the dog over the obstacle and stopping the dog at the target, once successful you have a great tool for fast and accurate performance of contact obstacles.

Use of clickers for conditioning-as a reward for correct performance of the obstacle-is a top training tool used by Susan. If used properly it is much more immediate a reward for correct performance. If you give treats-or throw a ball-you should use the clicker first. The clicker should be used immediately upon performance of the obstacle correctly.

An example is when the dog is in the target position if she tells the dog target again it must touch the ground with its nose; it might take two or three touches to gain a click, it might take one.

Motivational Stay

Place the dog in the target position on a flexi lead; tell the dog to stay; try to pull the dog off the contact zone.