Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - AG220: Building and Maintaining Stopped Contacts

Course Details

Many dogs start their agility career with good stopped contact performance. But over time, the behavior or the criteria changes and morphs into something undesirable. What causes that to happen?

This class focuses on the training or retraining of a stopped end position contact performance. It can help retrain dogs that are currently trialing and help young dogs build these skills from the ground up.

You won't need access to any full-contact equipment during this class. But you will need a training plank (see the prerequisites section below). Contact execution issues are almost always caused by distractions (lack of generalization during the teaching phase), inconsistent and unintended handling, or confusion.

When your handling is consistent, and your dog understands an independent stopped position, adding the skill to each of the three contacts is easy. However, transitioning to the teeter might takes extra training to incorporate movement and sound. Still, the stopped position from this class will sprinkle nicely into the trained components of that obstacle.

This class will benefit you and your dog the most if you avoid the formal sequencing of contacts in training and trials. If you want to fix your stopped contacts permanently, don't practice the old bad habits. Build new habits and then bring those forward into training and, ultimately, trials.

You will also learn how your dog's stopped contact performance breaks. For example, why did your dog start trialing with good contact performance, and eventually, the performance deteriorated? If you understand how to replace the "don't do" handling with the "do this" handling, your dog will have outstanding contact performance during its entire agility career.

If you have worked through my AG140 - Building and Maintaining a Start Line course, then you will have a slight advantage during this class. There will be similar concepts and handling which will benefit you. However, if you have not taken AG140, you will learn similar handling and training strategies in this course and apply those to contacts.

Teaching Approach

This class takes a step by step approach to building the various handler and dog skills. Each step will have written instructions and at least one video. Lectures are released in one batch at the beginning of the week. Feedback will all be written.

This class will have a Teaching Assistant (TA) available in the Facebook study group to help the Bronze and Silver students! Directions for joining that Facebook group will be in the classroom after you register.

Here is your TA, Heather Sather, showing her Dutch Shepherd, Mazi in Novice standard. She has worked through my program and has LOVELY stopped contacts.

Instructor: Nancy Gagliardi Little

Nancy Gagliardi Little (she/her) has been training dogs since the early 1980s, when she put an OTCH on her Novice A dog, a Labrador retriever. Since then she has put many advanced obedience titles on her dogs, including 4 AKC OTCH titles, 6 UD titles, 3 UDX titles, and multiple...(Click here for full bio and to view Nancy's upcoming courses)

Syllabus

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Week 1

Space needed - very little. Exercises can be worked indoors

Clean Cues

Event Markers

Similarities and Differences between Contacts and Start lines

Where it Goes Wrong

Criteria

The Release

- Why a Stationary Release

- Handling

Reinforcement Strategy

- Offered Stay or Zen

- Building Toy (or Food Toy) Reinforcement into the Release

Week 2

Space needed - very little space

The End Position

How to Handle Mistakes

Space needed - enough room for the plank and some lateral distance from the handler. If you have very little space available, I will help you modify the exercises to continue to make progress.

Stationary Handler Position

- Stationary Lateral distance

- Stationary Forward distance (recall)

- Combining skills (lateral & forward)

Week 3

Space needed - enough room for the plank and some lateral distance from the handler. If you have very little space available, I will help you modify the exercises to continue to make progress. If you have more room available, you can work more distance skills.

Handler Motion

- Parallel Motion

- Angled Motion

- Send Ahead

Week 4

Handling - Crosses

- Front Cross

- Rear Cross

- Blind Cross

Combining Handling Skills

Week 5

Space needed - enough room for the plank and some forward distance for your dog to exit (6-10 feet is perfect). If you have very little space available, I will help you modify the exercises to continue to make progress. If you have more room available, you can work more distance skills.

The Exits

- Straight ahead

- Turn towards handler

- Turn away from handler

- Tunnel discrimination

Week 6

Sequencing

Prerequisites & Supplies

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Recommendation:

AG140 - Building and Maintaining a Start Line is not a prerequisite, but if you have worked through this class you will already have knowledge of part of the handling that is involved. I highly recommend reviewing it again, if it's in your library. If not, you will learn everything you need for stopped contact handling in this class.

Prerequisites:

Reinforcement

Dogs will be reinforced in Week 2-6 by throwing a toy (should not roll - needs to be thrown so that it is accurate) or food toy. Throwing food to reinforce the stopped position will not be allowed. If your dog prefers food, you must use a food container where food is accessed without your help. Examples of food toys are lotus balls and treat huggers. I prefer the fleece treat huggers made by Clean Run. You can order them on Amazon or Clean Run. Here is what they look like:

https://www.cleanrun.com/product/treat_hugger_treat_holding_fleece_dog_toy/index.cfm

https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Run-Hugger-Treat-Dispensing-Fleece/dp/B07DF8NWSY

Equipment

Plank

8' x 12" or 12’ x 12" training plank or board. I prefer training planks longer than 8'. However, we can work with 6' or 4' planks if you have space issues. The training plank must be stable and not move when your dog runs across it. It must lay flat on the ground and shouldn't be raised - meaning any supporting legs underneath. The board can also be the teeter or dog walk plank. Any board that is used should be stable enough for the dog to run across without any movement or wobble of the board.

The plank below is not allowed because it is raised, too narrow, and unstable.

Not legal platform

Jumps

Two or three jumps (used in Week 6).

Tunnel

Tunnel (optional - used in Week 6).

Working Area

Minimum 40 x 40 area. Early training can be done in a smaller area.

Miscellaneous

2 soft crates or two identical targetting options like Fitpaws, front foot targets, stations (needed for Week 5). Your dog should enjoy running towards the objects. We can discuss this in class.

Sample Lecture

Strong start

If your dog's stopped contact performance started strong and then fell apart, how did that happen? If you have a dog that has not competed and you want to train a brilliant stopped contact performance, how can you make sure that the behavior doesn't fall apart?

Reinforcing behavior

Behaviors increase and become stronger when they are reinforced. Reinforcement happens when the dog accesses something they love (for example, food or toys) for specific behavior. Behaviors can also be reinforced when the dog does something that they love to do immediately following the behavior. When the dog goes directly to the next obstacle after exiting the contact, the chain of behaviors (entire contact performance and next obstacle) is reinforced when there is a positive conditioned emotional response for that next obstacle.

The reverse also comes into play. A history of unwanted behaviors can be built into the contact performance when the dog repeatedly continues forward after an undesirable stopped contact performance. If that continues, the entire unwanted contact performance will become more likely to occur in that environment. That's why so many dogs have different performances at the trials than they have in training. The environment becomes a powerful cue for a different performance. There is an emotional component in play, too. If there is stress or confusion, skills will eventually fade or change. It's a complicated behavior chain that needs to be unraveled for individual dog and handler teams.

Because it can be tricky to reward your dog's stopped contact performance in a trial, you must work hard at exposing your dog's trained routine to many situations, environments, and distractions. In an environment with lots of distractions (like trials), your dog's performance will get tested. If the training has also been tested and the handling and the release cue are clear to the dog, then those new situations shouldn't be an issue and can be easier to reinforce.

For the love of agility

Most dogs that do agility LOVE it. Training the obstacles and sequences with positive reinforcement creates a strong desire to interact with them. "Going" becomes a highly valued reward for the dog. If you do not train or handle the stopped contact performance properly with clear criteria and cues, then your dog can get confused. Then those lovely stopped contacts will start to deteriorate - maybe without you even recognizing the first signs. Your dog's behavior might start to change in classes or trials when you feel rushed or disconnect from your dog (For example - thinking about the sequence ahead or talking to your instructor while your dog is stopped in position). You might also be unaware of signals or patterns that unintentionally become confusing to the dog. And for some dogs, stress or frustration can cause performance issues. It creates a negative conditioned emotional response. And when that happens, you no longer have a dog that can think clearly. Anything can happen!!

What causes behavior to deteriorate?

Here are some examples of handler behavior that can cause a good stopped contact behavior to deteriorate:

Attempt to control the dog’s behavior
- Backing up or facing the dog while the dog is stopped in position
- Repeating the stay cue while moving forward
- Physically attempting to control where the dog should go
- Overly demanding/punitive or loud tone to stop the dog's movement or to cause the dog to stay (for example, "YOU STAY")
Being disconnected or distracted while the dog is stopped in position
Using unpredictable patterns or unintentionally pairing the verbal release cue with motion
Showing disappointment or other negative emotions because of the dog's performance

Conclusion

Your dog learns the stopped contact performance that you create - intentionally or unintentionally.

The best approach is to train your dog to do an independent stopped position while introducing handling and other distractions. Doing this will free you up to navigate the course independent from your dog's performance on the contact. It gives you many more options.

Testimonials & Reviews

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A sampling of what prior students have said about this course...

Thank you once again for a great course! I love being under your tutelage! You instill confidence and unyielding support for all your students-wherever we are in our development of training, and it means so much-thank you. Your devotion to everyone's journey is complemented by your understanding of and sensitivity to canine behavior. Your comments are always helpful and supportive. You've made me a better trainer and companion for my partner, and for that alone, this course was priceless.

When I signed up for this class I knew the last 10 days of it would be difficult because of my breed national specialty. I truly enjoyed the class and have many take aways that will improve my training in the future. In our one day of agility at the National, my dog did not miss a contact. I think, this is the first time I can say that for an agility day during his entire career (he's 7 years old), so I truly want to thank you for you systematic approach to teaching a stop on the contact, for your advice and insight, and for helping us become a better team. I have great tools for reinforcing his contacts now and am already applying them to my youngster. Many thanks and many kudos to you!

Spy dog ran in his very first real agility trial this weekend! I had no idea what to expect since he didn't get to grow up going to trials like Gusto did (Thanks Covid!). He exceeded all expectations. He was as high as a kite on occasion, but never really lost his head. I was so very happy for your classes. I hadn't planned to run him in anything with contacts (Misc, Gamblers, Jumpers), but he was doing so well I added a standard and steeplechase. We spent misc realizing he has never seen a tunnel under the dog walk (whoops!) and getting him comfortable running across that. In gamblers, he was confident on the dog walk, overshot the contact, and stopped himself with all four on the ground. Before this class I would have either had him turn around and get into position or repeated it the whole obstacle and with a louder and more emphatic cue to stop. Instead I just quietly praised him, released him from his stop, and he proceeded to hit and hold every other contact I asked for over the weekend. There were so many dogs making their trial debut after a year without any nearby USDAA trials, and I saw people with dogs at their first trial ever pulling them off course over broken contacts and yelling cues to try and get the stop. It was such a relief to have a plan to handle the situation without bringing any stress into the behavior. It's the biggest take-away I've gotten from your start line and contacts classes, and it is going to stick with me forever.

Thank you so much for this course. I don’t think I have learnt more in any course I have taken online. In addition to the subject matter, I learnt so much about what it takes to train a dog, particularly a dog like Indi. I had always known intellectually how much detail matters but this course really brought it home to me. I am leaving this course with a appreciation of what a good team Indi and I can be in life and agility if I approach training in a more methodical and mindful manner. This will require me to be an advocate for Indi and I will be.

I fall in the category of someone who started with stopped contacts, but pretty much lost them over time and even when we had them, I never had any independent performance of them. This class has changed all that for me. Nancy has presented a very through step by step process to teach a stopped contact behavior, in a manner that even the most beginning team can follow. And she is an amazing instructor, with insights and helpful instruction for a variety of dogs and handlers, both beginners and experienced. I loved this class! In addition to getting a stopped contact behavior back, my dog now also has a very independent performance of it. And, as an added benefit, I have become much more confident performing crosses behind and after the contact. Like all of Nancy’s classes this is definitely a must!

Nancy is so thorough and thoughtful, providing detailed feedback on an individualized level. Lectures and video demos were clear and concise, allowing for those that fall behind a great resource moving forward once the class ends.

Nancy did an incredible job with this class, it is outstanding! The content was so thorough and well thought out. One of the best classes I've taken at FDSA!

This is a great class for teaching or fixing contact behavior. Nancy broke the skills down into many steps that progress the behavior and distractions very well. The lectures are well written, easy to follow, and they have lots of demonstration video. Nancy's feedback is detailed and very positive. She has a great eye and will modify some of the steps if she sees that a dog needs something a bit different. She really cares about all of her students and even checked in with those that hadn't posted in awhile. I highly recommend this course.

I loved this class. It is positively the best, most thoughtful, thorough approach to teaching stopped contacts that I have seen. I have at least one dvd and one book on the subject, and this class offers a far better approach. Additionally, I have taken the previous FDSA contact class AG150 (also taught by Nancy Gagliardi Little)years ago with a different dog, and it was very good, but this one is even better, and concentrates just on contact performance. Nancy does not offer overnight success, but takes you through step by step from introducing the dog to a contact board to running small sequences. And offers advice on how to transition to real contacts after completing all the steps offered by this class. I would say that I think there is more material in this class than a beginner could transition through in six weeks. I think that only the more advanced teams were able to complete most of the steps in the six week period, but everyone will be left with a good foundation and a way forward. Just like the startline class, this is one that everyone should take!

Nancy is incredible! I love how she uses her lectures as base material but for those that are in Gold spots she will help them alter a method if needed to help that dog succeed! I highly recommend this class for dogs either learning the end contact behavior or want to polish up their skills.

Registration

Next session starts: April 1, 2025
Registration starts: March 22, 2025
Registration ends: April 15, 2025

Registration opens at 9:30am Pacific Time.

AG220 Subscriptions

	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Tuition	$ 260.00	$ 130.00	$ 65.00
Enrollment Limits	10	20	Unlimited
Access all course lectures and materials	✔	✔	✔
Access to discussion and homework forums	✔	✔	✔
Read all posted questions and answers	✔	✔	✔
Watch all posted videos	✔	✔	✔
Post general questions to Discussion forum	✔	✔	✖
Submit written assignments	✔	✖	✖
Post dog specific questions	✔	With video only	✖
Post videos	✔	Up to 2	✖
Receive instructor feedback on	Questions All videos	Questions All videos	✖

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