AG400: Smooth Moves: Adding the Dog to Your Agility Handler Mechanics

Timing of cues: The Timing Loop & The Connection Loop 

The secret to staying ahead is good timing :) I think of timing as a loop. There is connection between obstacles. There is commitment to the current obstacle. There is a proactive cue given for the current obstacle that puts the dog on the correct path to the next obstacle. It is consistency within this loop that builds confidence in our dogs and in return confidence in ourselves. When the dog learns that they can rely on this timely information, you can rely on their predictable responses to information, which makes planning your handling strategy so much easier. These obstacles are spaced really far apart so that I have space to adequately show what I’m about to explain.  

Our goal is to give relevant information between the obstacles, not while the dog is trying to complete the behavior. Giving relevant information while the dog is trying to jump (or weave, or hit their contact) can cause dogs to slow down, knock bars, slip/fall, or ignore cues altogether. 

Think of every obstacle as a startline. You lead out to a position that gives clear information about the first and second obstacle. You are looking at the dog and you can see that your dog is going to take #1. As your dog lands #1, you are starting to give information about how they should take #2, because your leadout position already committed them to it. 

The whole course is like that from the dog’s perspective, so you have to think like that, too! If you think about your dog landing every obstacle in a sit stay - how would you choose to handle the next obstacle? What position would you choose to be in? Which handling technique would you decide to use? 

It’s ok if you can’t answer these questions yet, they are the questions I want you to hold onto as you learn more about handling techniques and sequencing. Back to timing. The first piece of the loop is connection: seeing your dog’s eyes as they land or exit an obstacle. As your dog lands/exits an obstacle, they are asking “what’s next”? Your proactive cue for the previous obstacle should answer that for them. Your connection to them, and many times your first step of your cue as they land confirms it, and the dog should immediately look to the correct obstacle*. Looking at the correct obstacle is the dog saying, “I’ve got it, I’m going to take it, but how do I take it?”, and that is your chance to give them the handling technique that tells them how to jump, that will put them on the correct line to the next one - and the loop continues. 

Dogs need that proactive cue at least one stride before take-off. Why so early? Because they are planning their next take-off the moment they land/exit the previous obstacle. If they get to their take-off point unaware of where the next one is, they will likely take-off in extension (unless they’ve learned out of self perseverance to automatically collect/prepare to turn no matter what), and at the very least turn wide after they land and get the information they are looking for. If they have all of the relevant information about where to go next before they reach their take-off point, they can (and in most cases will) adjust their speed, stride length, take-off point, and land looking in the correct direction of the next obstacle. 
*Dogs looking at the obstacle on their line vs their handler is a key skill that dogs must have before sequencing should begin, if you hope to practice good timing loops from the beginning. One thing about late timing is that it trains both the human and the dog to commit later and later, making it difficult to break the late-timing cycle. 

The timing loop on one obstacle:

Timing Loop within a full course: 

The connection loop happens within the timing loop. The connection loop is what I am talking about when I mention “dog’s eyes, dog’s line, dog’s landing”. 

Let’s insert the connection loop into the timing loop: Dog is landing, asking “what’s next” -  Handler is already looking at the dog’s eyes and taking a commitment step to confirm what the dog is asking. Dog is looking at the correct obstacle, now asking, “ok - got it, but how do I take it?”,  so the handler begins their proactive handling technique, while looking ahead of the dog, about 2-3 feet in front of the dog, following the line to the landing spot, where the dog will land shortly to restart the loop.

It’s all happening together, at the same time, in most situations - it isn’t a check-list, it is something you “know” is going to happen, so you plan for it. You rehearse it during your walkthrough, and you perform it with your dog. Do surprises happen sometimes? Of course! You’re a human and your dog is not a machine. But, I often remind my students that you should be surprised when you/your dog gets it wrong, not when you/your dog get it right.