Staying at the Start Line

As first published in the USDAA magazine, winter 1999
From "The Training Corner" questions & answers Nancy Gyes

Q.) My dog normally has a great stay, except when we get to the agility course. In weekly training sessions I can lead out for several obstacles but, when we get to a show, he almost always breaks the stay before I get to where I want to be to release him from the start line.

You mean—he almost always breaks the stay before I get to where I want to be to release him from the start line—and then I run forward, CHASING him around the course, reinforcing that he was correct in leaving before I called him.

This is a common problem for driven dogs that can't wait to get on the course, and for dogs who have been taught by their handlers that normal stay commands mean absolutely nothing once they get to a trial!

To begin with, you need to train a stay in every conceivable environment and with lots of distractions away from agility. I like to train stays in the location where I think the dog is LEAST likely to be able to perform the job. After I have established the stay there, the start-line stay might be a piece of cake. For one of my dogs, that meant doing a sit-stay at the swimming pool while all the other dogs were swimming. For some dogs, it might be when you open the door to the back yard and all the other dogs fly out to chase the squirrels, and the dog with the issue has to sit-stay for a few minutes while all their friends are running around frantically. For your coach-potato dog, it might be doing a sit- or stand-stay in the middle of your bed.

Think hard to choose the situation in which you can guarantee, right now, that your dog will not do a sit-stay (other than at the start line). Train that situation, beginning first on leash, until you have a one hundred percent reliable stay.

Use what you have learned in those situations to help you train the start line. Get your dog hyped up in agility class; wind him up with a toy, or by watching other dogs do agility, or, better yet, relay races. You might find that you can get your dog to break in a class environment, which is what you want.

You have to let your dog go wrong at some point away from a trial, so that you can train out the problem. By that I mean that I walk to the line, command sit-stay, depart, reach the point where I will call my dog, turn and praise, and then give the release word before the dog is allowed to move. If the dog leaves before my release command, I take him back and I repeat the stay exercise, but he definitely doesn't get to do agility this time. To get to do agility, the dog has to stay without moving from the FIRST command. In a class situation, we let the next dog in line do the exercise, then the stay-breaker gets a repeat try at the exercise. If he stays, he gets to do the drill; if not, he might lose his turn entirely.

At a competition, I take my dog's leash off at the ring gate, and heel my high-drive dog into the ring. My philosophy is, if you can't get to the start line off-leash, how are you ever going to get around the ring off-leash with a clean run? On the start line, I walk away from the dog as if he has the best stay on the planet, with confidence and a brisk step. Backing away from your dog, or repeating the stay command, only reminds the dog that you are NOT in control of the situation. I turn and face the dog, smile, breathe, praise the dog from a distance, then use a verbal release command without moving any part of my body. I technically put myself into neutral. The only signal that my dogs are allowed to move on is a verbal "OK." I watch the dog jump the first jump without moving, and then I begin running with the dog.

Most handlers give a physical signal and verbal cue to the dog that he can move off the line. If you do so, you will be teaching your dog that a physical cue is what he should look for as a release command. A bright dog will figure out after very few repetitions what the physical cue is, and he will simply move as soon as they see it coming. He is not really wrong; you have taught him very well what the cues are and his is simply responding to your teaching. If you taught your dog to sit on a verbal "sit" and a hand signal given simultaneously, wouldn't you be happy when the dog anticipated the sit command when you started to lift your hand? He would be a "good dog" and oh, so very bright. Why would he be wrong to have learned, when his handler walks out 15 feet and turns to face him (the physical signal and cue), that he is then to depart the line? Add to his confusion by beginning to run immediately when he takes off (the reward) and you will have accomplished teaching him to leave on the minimum of physical cues, such as you starting to look over your shoulder at him, or beginning to raise your hand for a jump signal.

You will need to repair this damage and unteach this behavior. What would happen if you simply stood there silently when he broke the line? Most dogs will immediately come to a halt when they realize you aren't coming along.

You will need to be able to train this in a schooling situation if you don't want to throw away a lot of money on show classes. Going to practice matches if they are available, dropping in on different trainers classes, setting up equipment at the park with friends, and pretending it is a show situation can help. Make sure you are not adding to the problems by turning into a frantic out-of-control handler when you get to the show, and especially just before your class. Stay calm at the start and do what you do in training, trust your dog, and believe he will stay. Get to the show early and train MANY stays before you ever get to the ring. Consult a canine behaviorist if you can't solve the problem on your own. In my experience, dogs that don't stay at the start usually have other training issues going on in everyday life that may need to be solved before you get a handle on your start line. Our resident behaviorist and obedience instructor, Rachel Sanders, sees many of our students for start-line problems, and we use her techniques for teaching reliable sit-stays to our own dogs.

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