Dog Agility for Newcomers - The Next Jump

Grid work is important as it teaches the dog to read the distance between the jumps so they get their stride right.

We do 3 main exercises using 3-4 jumps, spaced at 6-8 strides apart (depending on your dogs size).

You can do the exercises in any order and they are sending your dog to the target, recalling your dog to the target and standing in the middle so your dog passes you to their target,

Gridwork also helps to teach the dog to be independent of you

When introducing a new dog to gridwork, we reward 1 jump, then 2 jumps and so on, usually with poles on the floor. Making sure we do the exercises on both arms and you can also change directions and start from the finishing end.

This is a really basic exercise and a really valuable one. More often than not as our dogs get to learn the contact equipment and weaves, that is where their reward ends up coming from. Unless we are doing grid work or reinforcing our wing wraps, the jumps often don't get rewarded enough.

To start with have treats in both hands, standing in 'No Mans Land' ( a foot each side of the jump) and lure the dog over. NO verbal commands. What we are looking for is voluntary behavior.

Once your dog gets the idea that jumping the jump 'pays' stop luring and wait for the wanted behavior.

It's important to learn about the dog's line. This is the line the dog see's on a course and it helps to show you how important your positioning is, especially when you both are learning.

Wing Wraps are where the dog goes over the pole then around the wing coming back in the direction it came from.

They never back jump or retake the jump they have just taken. In a competition this would cause you to be eliminated.

This one is for the handlers to help them with their handling, positioning and movement of the wing wrap. Its all in the rocking movement ;-)

A few exercises we do to help teach our dogs a tight wing wrap

Part 1 we introduce Lottie to going round the wings. We start by luring and rewarding behind the wing and progress at her speed to going all the way round.

We then start to teach her a 'figure of 8'- left wing wrap and then straight into right wing wrap.

Now Lottie is starting to understand the exercise, we introduce her to 2 jumps

A front cross is where we need to step across our dogs’ path to swap drive arms and direction. You cross facing your dog.

A Blind is where you still cross the dog's path ahead of them but you have your back to them.

You can use this handling skill on all obstacles, but I like to teach it using a tunnel and jumps.

It allows the handler a few nano seconds more time to cross while their dog is in the tunnel than if they are learning it in front of a jump.

A front cross is where we need to step across our dogs’ path to swap drive arms and direction. You can use this handling skill on all obstacles, but I like to teach it using a tunnel and jumps.

A Blind is where we are in front of the dog and step across their path to swap drive arms and direction, keeping your back to your dog

A Box is 4 jumps positioned in a box like formation and you usually use wing wraps to direct your dog.

You can make up loads of sequences, but the dog must jump each of the four only once, in any direction for it to a Box

A ‘snake’ or ‘serp’, ‘serpentine’ as it also gets referred too, consists of 3 jumps, in a line but next to each other, rather than after each other.

We teach the dog to jump away from us, then towards us and then away, while we stay on the one side of all 3 jumps.

So how do we teach them this? We adjust the jumps so there is a straight line down the centre of them.

A ‘snake’ or ‘serp’, ‘serpentine’ as it also gets referred too, consists of 3 jumps, in a line but next to each other, rather than after each other.

A Threadle is a maneuver where the dog takes an obstacle, then comes between two obstacles to take the next obstacle in the same direction.

It can also be used to tell the dog to do a send around

In this tutorial, I've set the jump up in front of the camera to show you the handling skill needed for this maneuver.

Part 1 Teaches the dog and handler to use a threadle for a send around. This is where the dog goes around the wing before taking the jump.

In Part 2 we teach the dog to 'Pull through' using a Threadle

Practicing our Threadle and Pull Throughs

A Pivot or Post Turn as its sometimes called, is where the handler does a 360 degree turn. They tuck them selves into the wing, lowering their arm as they turn.

This technique is used when the dog needs to do a wing wrap but the handler needs to get on to the other 'drive arm'