Beyond teaching the Signal Exercise

Before starting my column this month, I have to share that my Skye (OTCH Morninglo Fire in the Sky UDX4 MH NA NAJ WCX VCX OS) turned 12 years old on Feb. 20^th. He is the owner of my heart and I am thrilled to still have him at my side! His son, Echo (OTCH Merichase Skye’s Legacy UDX2 TD JH WCX), turned 5 on the same day also! So we had a double celebration!!

     Recently a student of mine showed this for the first time in Utility A. The team was not really ready to show but the handler decided she wanted to give it a try any ways. She failed the signal exercise both days, the down the one day and the sit the next. Her comment to me was, “He was looking right at me!” My comment to her was that her dog was not home! I’ve been in the same scenario myself. You leave your dog, you walk to the end of the ring and turn and the dog is “looking right at you”. You give the signal and the dog does not respond. Why? You ask, after all he was, “looking right at me!”

     Let look at this from the dog’s point of view. He has been trained; he knows his job; he understand what the signal means and how to respond to it. Now you bring him into a strange location, you heel with him a little and then leave him to go to the other side of the ring. You flash you signal at him and it does not compute! Why? In two words: confidence and proofing.

     First of all, make sure your dog is confident with you leaving it in all sorts of locations and situations. Don’t always make this a formal exercise. Mix things ups a bit. Once the dog really knows this exercise, I like playing games with it. I might walk away a few feet, step off to the side and toss a cookie. If he’s not watching, then he misses the cookie toss. I vary this game a lot! For example, I may walk all the way to the end of the ring, stand there like I am going to give the signal, quickly side step and toss the cookie. The side step is a body movement that he will never see in the ring, it becomes a release for the dog to run and get the cookie. I make it a very exaggerated movement so there is no confusion. Be creative with this game!

     I also like to stand my dog and then go hide somewhere. I leave him waiting and watching to see what I am going to do. I may pop out from behind something and give a down signal and then hide again. I may walk all around and while walking, give the sit signal. In other words, make it interesting. The main thing I am working on here is focus and helping the dog to gain confidence. I also like to leave him in the stand next to things, say a large stuffed toy, a glove (a killer for Echo as he wants that glove so bad!), next to a chair or a moving toy-be creative! All of these ideas are for proofing the dog to help him to pay closer attention. Think how boring it is for the dog to do repeated signals always the same. Add the increased stress that happens at the show and you have a failed exercise.

     I try not to make signals stressful. I think the dog does that really well all on its own, even those that have confidence. If I make corrections, it will be for a lack of attention and not for missing the signal itself because if you really think about it, the dog failed the signal because it wasn’t paying attention! Remember, I am talking about a dog that knows this exercise, not one that is just learning it! If I feel there is an issue with the actual skill of downing, sitting or coming on signal, then I would work each one of these separately and out of the exercise.

     Try the games, do some proofing and take the formality of this exercise and you’ll find your dog will be looking right at you and paying attention!!

     Enjoy your training!!