RA501: Rally-FrEe and Musical Freestyle Foundation Skills 1

Circling the handler is a primary transition behavior.  The circle behavior is also foundation in creating interesting variation behaviors for either Freestyle or Rally-FrEe.  By building strength in the foundation, your variations will be easier and faster to train and you’ll have greater reliability and response from your dog.

The circle behavior should be taught in both directions, from the left and right side of the handler.  In Rally-FrEe, the foundation circle behaviors are signs #15 and #16. 

Note that they look very similar.  The position the dog is in at the start tells you the direction they will travel. If the dog is in left heel he will travel clockwise. If he is in right heel he will travel counter-clockwise.  You will never be "tricked" on a Rally-FrEe course. Your dogs position on approach to the sign indicates the direction of travel for the circle.

http://www.rallyfree.com/rally-free-signs-2016/

If you haven't already, remember to download the Rally-FrEe app: search rallyfree (all one word lower case) in either Apple or Play Stores. It's free and will also give you video links to all of the skills covered in this class.

Some of you may be saying “but my dog already knows that behavior.”  Before skipping steps, ask yourself a few questions and ask about both the clockwise circle from your left side and the counter-clockwise circle from your right side:

1)  Does my dog always start and end in the same position?

2)  Is it as fast as I would like?  

3)  Is it as tight as I would like?

4)  Is my dog as responsive as I would like?

5)  Does my dog show confidence and fluency?

6)  Does my dog respond to a verbal cue without the aid of a hand signal? 

By using the training gates to train the circle behavior, you now have an easy context without hand cues to train other behaviors (such as circling a cane or other prop) faster and with a greater degree of understanding in the dog.

Homework: Set up your training gates in a single, round circle, or pen.  Make sure the circle is wide enough for you in the middle and your dog to move comfortably around you in a circle but not so wide that your dog can turn around. For most dogs a single gate will suffice, but for some large or giant breeds you may need to use two lengths of gates to create the appropriate size pen. 

If your dog seems worried about the gates, walk him around the outside, as close as he seems comfortable, treating every couple of steps until you see him relax. Most dogs end up loving the gates and will often go into them on their own if left out after a session!

Some like to use a mirror to be able to see the dog even when he is moving behind you so if this is helpful to you set that up too.  Mirrors are also a great aid in helping the handler maintain a straight posture, with hips and shoulders forward.  In training many of these behaviors, but especially the circle behavior, you may have the tendency to want to “help” your dog through twisting or other body English.  Work hard to avoid this as it will only hinder the dog’s ability to find value in your verbal cues.

With your dog on your left or right side (you’ll be training both, so choose which side you want to start with) walk into the round pen. As you enter, you'll need to turn so that you are facing the opening.  If your dog is on your left, turn to your right. If your dog is on your right, turn to your left.  Be ready to click.  As soon as you move into the pen, your dog is likely to move forward.  That is your first C/T.  Place your reward about 2 inches in front of the dog.  Don’t withhold it, but place it so your dog needs to take a small step or stretch of the neck to get it.  This will help reinforce forward movement.  While the dog is eating his first treat, you can close the pen. 

Here is a clip of Sharon and Finn. This is their first lesson in the gates for circles. Notice the smallest movement forward earns c/t.

In this video you'll see me bring Dixie into the gates and get her started. Notice the fast food as I close the gates. This will give her a reason to stay in the gates and it allows me to close the gate without missing clickable movement.

Note there are no verbal or hand cues. When she stalls and there is no movement, I gently prompt her by placing my foot behind her. The goal is not to push her, but to take space away from behind her so she chooses to move forward. After the click I'm placing the food out ahead of her to get, to encourage more forward movement. Then you'll see her owner take over for the second session.

Stand straight, with your hips and shoulders squared and always facing the same direction.  Again, avoid turning your body, or trying to lure with your hands, arms or shoulders.  Look where you want the dog to go, rather than at your dog.  Keep your criteria low at first, i.e. any single step or small movement forward earns a C/T.

In many cases, if your dog understands the C/T relationship, it will take only a few sessions for the dog to start to show confidence in moving in a complete circle around the handler.  This of course, depends on your dog’s experience with shaping, the value of your reward and the comfort level of your dog in the gates, as well as the usual - timing of your marker and clean handler mechanics.

Be sure to read through the "Trouble Shooting for Circle Behaviors" document before you start.  This will help you resolve some issues you may run into during the process.

This process applies to not only circling the handler but circling a cane, or other props as well.  In the below video you'll see how a dog with understanding of circling the handler in the gates can learn quickly how to circle a cane without the use of hand signals, which means we don't have to take the time to eliminate them, we just add the verbal cue once we can predict the behavior.   Feel free to try the below skill as well, but start with circling the handler in the gates for context.

When submitting your videos remember to show the whole dog and handler in your videos so that I can view not only the dog, but the handler as well.  Okay!  Let's go train! Remember to allow your dog to drive the process and most important have fun with this!