Are you FULLY ENGAGED every time you train or compete with your dog? A few weeks ago at an AKC trial I had the opportunity to watch many of the runs in both the novice and the masters’ rings. I watched students and I watched strangers and I left shaking my head at how many handlers had no engagement with their dogs at all as they walked into the ring and to the start line. That lack of engagement was immediately obvious with some of the dogs showing displacement behaviors like sniffing, sight-seeing, scratching, getting up from start line positions, not releasing from stays and generally showing a total lack of enthusiasm or desire to get out there and play with their handlers.

Pie at the recent AKC trial

This lack of engagement was at times followed by non-qualifying and lack luster runs with a distracted dog and a distracted handler. I know handlers are nervous at times before a run, it happened to me that weekend running my young border collie Pie in AKC for the first time. But I knew I had to override my novice dog ring nerves and take care of my dog. The start line is the last place handlers should be distracted and looking around the ring to see where the course goes, but that is what they seemed to be doing. The dog follows them on leash into the ring obediently, the handler makes no eye contact as they are distractedly looking around to find the first few jumps and remind themselves of the course flow. Then they rip off the leash and leave the dog with a look on its face as if they have never met this stranger who took them into the ring.

What does it mean to be totally engaged? It could be lots of things, but overall there should be an obvious emotional and physical connection between handler and dog that could be visible to anyone watching. The handler could be engaging the dog by doing little tricks or games or just making some direct eye contact and verbal engagement, “are you READY to run? ” or possibly asking the dog to be attentive and obedient with quiet heelwork with a nice smile on her face, or physically prompting the dog by their own playful posture that the dog reads as time to go do something fun.

Pie at the recent AKC trial

While thinking about these distracted handlers, I started looking at my own start line with Pie. She tugged enthusiastically with me to the start line, and we had lots of connection there, but a few times I led out like I was running  Scoop or Ace, I just turned my back and walked to my lead-out spot. I deserved the distracted look my youngster  gave me one time when I turned to call her off the line, as well as the start line sit-stay that turned to a stand while my back was turned. The rest of the weekend I made sure I kept eye contact and praised her when I led out. I decided after that weekend that I really had to  help my students learn how to stay engaged with their dogs at the line.

So!

Tomorrow is day one of Power Paws Camp, our 14th year of teaching summer and winter camps. I wrote an article for the Camp Workbook on staying “Fully Engaged” and wanted to share it with all of you and all of my students who don’t get to attend camp this weekend. It is written to our Campers, but of course it applies to any kind of training or competition scenario. I hope it will help you remember to stay fully engaged with your dog if you want your dog to stay engaged with you!

Fully and extremely engaged!

(A letter to Campers from the 2013 Camp workbook)

Scoop and I share a moment

My goal instructing you at camp this year is not just to help you learn how to train and handle your agility dog more effectively; I want to help both you and your dog have more fun and stay more connected to each other. Success in our sport requires focus/connection and what I call engagement. You need to be fully engaged with the training and what you plan on doing with your dog on the course and you want your dog fully engaged in the process.

I have a goal for you at Camp this year. A goal of staying connected to your dog and him to you. From the moment you get your dog out of its crate to begin an exercise you need to have 100% of your dogs’ attention and you want to bring your dog to the correct state of arousal for the job before you get to the start line.

• A dog that is distracted needs to be focused back to the handler with tugging/tricks/or focus games. Try hand targeting, high five, figure-8 between your legs or other handler focus games before you run.
• When tugging with your dog, YOU get to disengage/end the tugging, not the dog. The goal for tugging is that YOU have to ask your dog to stop tugging and get the toy back from them not vice-versa. Try not to let your dog disengage from the tug game until YOU are finished and they were solidly tugging with you before you ended the game.
• EYE contact. Give it and ask for it and don’t start a run without it.
• A dog that is half asleep needs to be woken up and mentally and physically prepared to go play/work. AFTER you wake up and arouse your dog, you need tugging or silly tricks or some animated ground running work to engage them. Try scratch/rubbing your dog excitedly through their rib cage area to get their blood flowing and hope the brain follows!
• A dog that is over the top excited needs to be helped to have calm focus before the handler attempts a drill. Soft eye contact and quiet talk may help to calm them. If you are tugging keep it low key, the toy down at your knee or ground level, and don’t encourage growling.
• A dog that is stressed by the surroundings needs some fun/happy/silly talk from the handler so they forget to be worried. Look them in the eyes, give ‘em a kiss and ask them to trust that you will do the right thing to help them play through their fear.
• A suspicious dog that comes out of its crate and is immediately looking for a dog to warn away or chase needs some very special focus work on the handler and they need to be in motion WITH the handler and prevented from staring at other dogs through focus games and possibly control head halters on their way from crating to start line. If your dog will stay focused on you while tugging that is likely your best offense.

In order to do any of the above things to get your dog engaged, YOU need to be fully engaged.

Scoop at the startline

Don’t turn your back on your dog or mentally “drop” them. This goes for the start line and in between obstacles if you have a whoopsie and need to start over. When you walk to the start line keep your dogs’ attention by making eye contact, tugging, praising or saying silly stuff so that your dog knows that you are being attentive to them.

If you have a momentary mental lapse on course, or you or your dog have a screw up and you need to get restarted on the course or talk to the instructor about your handling:

• Call your dog to you immediately, don’t let them wander.
• Don’t talk to the instructor until you get control of your dog!
• Tug if possible, or give them a treat if appropriate to the situation and if they responded to the recall immediately.
• You could also ask them to lie down or sit and praise them for doing so.
• If you have called your dog to you, gently hold them by the collar, or kneel down next to them. You could put your arm around them and cuddle them to your side to gently confine them so they can’t nick off or get distracted by dogs, people or surroundings.
• Small dogs could be picked up, but don’t grab at them, and try often to keep your small dogs feet on the ground where they play and work.
• Always take a few moments to re-engage or play with your dog before you start the drill again.
• ALWAYS re-engage and reward your dog at the end of every run. Throw your toy, or have a game of tug. If you can’t tug or play retrieve then stay engaged with extremely lavish praise and some kind of physical play or a bit of rough housing one-on-one connection and of course eye contact. Don’t dis-engage from your dog until he is off the course and back at the crate area.
• If you need to talk to the instructor or repeat some part of the drill, reward and play momentarily, THEN go get the info from your instructor.

Stay fully engaged with your dog and it is likely your dog will stay fully engaged with you!

NJG

PS:Thank you Erika Mauer for the Pie photos from the trial!

It is just a few weeks since I was standing with Team USA in closing ceremonies at the FCI Agility World Championships. The arena was packed with teams and FCI delegates. What is normally an exciting and uplifting ceremony was for me extremely sad. We watched the FCI flag be passed from the Czech Republic back to the FCI and subsequently be passed in a traditional ritual to next years’ hosts of the Agility World Championships. At this point in the event we are usually very excited in anticipation of the discovery process about the next country we hope to visit, wondering what the host city and environment will be like, and curious about the judges we will study for the next year.

The passing of the flag to the South African representative was emotional for me and I assume was for many others as well. For 17 years I have heard discussions about holding the event off the continent. I heard it from our first agility director who always hoped the USA could host the event at some point, and I have always been opposed to the idea. I am a realist. I know that many if not most of the European handlers would not be able to afford the trip to the USA, just like they will struggle to go to South Africa. Without a strong and large European contingent of handlers the event would not be what it is, the most competitive international agility event in the world. It is not that I WANT to trek to Europe every year, but I DO want to go where the largest number of countries and handlers are able to participate.

The trip to SA is a long, grueling and expensive trip for dogs and humans, and for some of the countries it is unreachable. It is unreachable not because of the global disadvantage and the cost, but because quarantine laws exist in South Africa and 9 of this years’ participating countries would need to quarantine their dogs for two weeks on arrival in that country.

Since returning from the 2012 Agility World Championships in the Czech Republic we have discovered the reality of which countries are actually eligible to travel to South Africa for the Agility World Championships 2013 without going through a 2 week Quarantine process. There are only 45 countries in the entire world that are eligible to enter South Africa without quarantine. Of those 45 countries only about 27 of them actively participate in the Agility World Championships. This year many of the teams that were at the 2012 AWC will either need to go through quarantine or skip the 2013 AWC. Those countries are Belarus, Brazil, Chile, China, Columbia, Croatia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and San Marino. There are some agility power-houses on that list, as well as countries that only sent one competitor like San Marino and Mexico.

There are at last count approximately 195 countries in the world, and less than 30 active agility countries qualify to travel freely to South Africa. The South African World Championships excludes the real possibility of participation for the majority of the world and many of our friends. It is of course doubtful any handler would be willing to put their dog through the torture of quarantine and unless the requirements are lifted, those countries will obviously not attend. Japan is one of those countries. They have already informed organizers that they will stay home.

The South African agility organizers are working to have the quarantine lifted, maybe it will happen. But many countries have already begun the qualification and competition process to win a place on a team for 2013, so even if quarantine rules are lifted for some countries, it may be too late to prepare to attend the event. In hindsight of course it would have been a good idea to have that kind of South African governmental assistance guaranteed before applying to hold the competition.

Most European handlers are totally unaware of what kind of extreme difficulty and expense it is to travel overseas with a dog. It is something Americans must do in order to be able to participate, but not one we take lightly and not without great difficulty in preparation. It is of course financially challenging, and the paperwork seems like a nightmare at times, but more importantly, there is a risk of your dog’s health. There are many who would never hand their dogs to a cargo department of an airline for a 20 hour ride in a box, but that is just what will need to happen in order to travel to South Africa.  A 15 hour flight from the USA to Johannesburg translates to a dog being handed to a cargo department 2 or 3 hours prior, and possibly collecting the dog up to a couple hours after landing and vet checks. That could easily turn a trip into 20 plus hours. This is a very personal decision each handler will need to make with their dogs only after doing all the special research into viability and safety.

Dogs traveling to South Africa must undergo 5 special blood tests in the months before departing for the country, and most dogs will also need rabies titer testing in order to come back to their home country after visiting South Africa. In the USA those blood tests cost approximately $500. The estimates for dog shipping are $2000 to 3000, and even the small and medium dogs that usually travel safely in cabin with their handlers must travel via cargo as South Africa travel requirements do not allow small dogs as excess baggage. It is still unclear if this also might be waived, the fees certainly won’t be waived, but the cabin travel might be a slight possibility. Pair the fees of thousands of dollars for dog shipping, passenger travel, & hotels, and the event costs add up to an astronomical amount.

The event is a year away but most countries need to make decisions NOW on whether to have their tryouts events, whether they can afford to send a team, if anyone is willing to personally pay the funds to go, and many more unanswered questions. The organizers are asking which countries are coming and the countries are asking to know ahead of time about the costs.

If more agility handlers and their country’s delegates had known of the quarantine restrictions in advance would the outcome be different?  Does it really make sense to have the event in a location where so few countries in the world are free from quarantine restrictions? Is it possible that many of the supporters of the Agility World Championships being held in South Africa were uninformed and made decisions without hard facts and specific details?

For at least few years we have known that the event was scheduled for South Africa, it is just that none of us believed it would really happen. Throughout the month prior to the 2012 Championships I looked forward with trepidation to the final announcement of the locale of AWC 2013. My thoughts were that I would feel sorry for the South African organizers that have gone through so much effort to bring the event to their country if the FCI decided to take it from them. At the same time that is just what I hoped would happen; that the organization would really take into consideration all the problems involved and that South Africa would gracefully withdraw.

Since 1996 I have made 16 trips across the Atlantic to the Agility World Championships and 5 to the European Open. 11 of those trips I traveled with my own competition dog. I understand way too well many of the difficulties that the teams face in preparing to attend the event in South Africa, but as complicated as it is to travel to Europe from North or South America or the far east, it will be that and much more to prepare for a trip with a dog to South Africa. As much as I would love to have a holiday in the beautiful city of Johannesburg on the exotic continent of Africa, I do not relish the effort it would be to travel with a team of dogs to that continent and that country.

I truly don’t believe anything will stop the Agility World Championships now from being held in South Africa. I fervently hope that in the future much greater consideration is given to where the event is held so that it is at least reachable by a majority of the World’s agility handlers and dogs. Yes, we do want the event to be a WORLD Championship, and I hope that it can eventually be held at times out of Central Europe, but there are other countries around the world that would have been willing to host that do not have such stringent quarantine laws, and that are more easily accessible to more of the worlds’ agility handlers.

My history with the AKC Agility World Team

Early in 1996 I received a call Sharon Anderson the AKC Agility Director. She invited me to be on the AKC/FCI Agility World team with my border collie Scud. I said “YES!” on the spot, and 17 years later AKC Agility and participating in the FCI Agility World Championships, and  the FCI European Open  as well as local and Nationals events is a huge part of my  life each year.

I was on the AKC/USA team for 4 years with Scud, finishing 6^th in 1999 in Dortmund. In 2000 I took a year off of competing, but still traveled with the team as a supporter. My border collie Riot made the team the next three years (2001, 2, 3) and we had some spectacular runs and I have many incredible memories. Riot and I won the Individual Agility class in 2002 at the Agility World Championships, and were second in 2001.

In 2005 I assisted AKC /USA Coach Dan Dege, and in 2006 I took over as head coach. This year, 2012, was my 7^th year coaching the team. In 17 years I only missed traveling with the team one time (2003). For 5 of the last 6 years I have also traveled to the European Open and competed with my border collie Ace. That is 22 European trips and lots of familiarity with overseas dog travel for both myself and my dogs.

Nancy Gyes

Ten days is not long enough to really experience the  Czech Republic, especially when you consider that the focus of the trip is agility and not sight seeing! Four of those days I spent indoors at the World Championship,and 3 more were spent partially on training and checking in at the event. But it was beautiful nonetheless and I hope I am lucky enough to be able to visit Prague again some time. The food, the colors of the city, the architecture and the history cannot be adequately enjoyed in just the three days I spent there prior to the World Championships. Some notable site are the Charles Bridge, Old Town, John Lennon’s wall, the Jewish Cemetery and the Castle. And the easiest way to see lots of it is by Segway tour. This was my 3rd or 4th segway tour, and while the tour guide was not the sharpest, I still had a great time zooming around town with my travel-mates Daisy and her husband David and we saw many of  the city’s sites during the two hour adventure.

After the too short  Prague adventure we headed to the Team’s home base hotel a 90 minute drive north of the City. We hooked up with the rest of the team and got ready to begin our week of preparation and competition. Our crazy busy week went like this: Monday morning team meeting then practice. Tuesday practice, Wednesday vet checks at the site, Thursday…what a day! Team practice on site at 7:30 AM, Thursday afternoon Opening Ceremonies, Thursday evening Large dog team jumpers runs, and Thursday night standing on the podium! Friday/Saturday/Sunday more competing and then by 9 AM back on a bus to the Prague airport. It was an exciting week with a great group of handlers and the wonderful supporters that traveled with us.

This years team was a special one. A great group of individuals that clicked as a team at the first practice and that continued the camaraderie throughout the months leading up to the event. Team dynamics are so important. We spend a lot of time together and nothing can be more stressful than traveling unless it is traveling with 15 individuals and 12  dogs on the road to the most important event of the year, or possibly your entire career. This team did it all with a smile on their face and some stress relieving fun during break times. I look forward to many more years of working with this incredible group of handlers.

I wanted to share some of my favorite photos from our trip to the Czech Republic and a highlight of some of the Team’s incredible accomplishments.

A hearty congratulations to Team 2012!

Large dogs, gold in team jumpers- WAY TO GO! Silvina Bruera, Channan Fosty, Daisy Peel and & Tori Self.  There is nothing more exciting for an agility handler or a coach than to stand on the podium at the World Championships and listen to your National Anthem being played. Just an emotional, exciting and happy WOW!

Daisy Peel, highest overall individual placement for a USA  handler, 5^th in the world. Yahoo and well done Daisy! Your last run was incredible and had us holding our breath to see where you would finish.

Silvina Bruera had a phenomenol event finishing 3rd in team jumpers, with 3 of 4 clean runs and helping the team take Gold in jumping and tying Tori for 15th place in Individual jumpers. This was Silvina and TCam’s first time on the Team, but not her first time to attend the World Championships. Before becoming a US Citizen Silvina represented her home country of Argentina with her Doberman Aira and her border collie Maja.

Channan Fosty, best overall team member performance with 4 out of 4 fast exciting clear rounds and finishing 16th in the World and helping the team take Gold in jumping. I am so proud of my students Channan & Silvina, all the commitment to training and conditioning your dogs paid off and I can’t say how exciting it was to watch you perform at your best at the event we have been training for all year.

Tori Self, Another great performance for our youngest team member with a 5th in Team jumping and tying for 15th place with Silvina in Individual jumpers and helping get the team to the podium  for the Jumpers gold medal!

Congratulations to Medium team members John Nys and Laurene Galgano for their two clean team runs and getting the team close to earning a silver medal. John finished 8th in team jumpers and 15th in individual jumpers and showed his usual kick butt attitude that took him so close to one of the individual medals this year.

Well done Small Dog Team for earning a bronze medal in team jumpers! This was Dee Gamels’ Kelsi’s international retirement event  and they had 3 out of 4 clean runs. A great event for Dee Anna and Kelsi and a wonderful way to end an outstanding international career.   Laura Dolan &  Race were 2 for 2 in team and Laura kicked butt in small dog team agility earning an 8th place.

Congratulations to the entire team, it is never just about an individual at the Agility World Championships. Without the entire team’s participation we would not have had such a great event and such outstanding results.

Next year the event is in South Africa, and no doubt it will be an interesting one, but that is an entire other post!

NJG

Welcome to the new Power Paws website! It has been many months in the building and will be months more before I have put in all the content I hope to have here in our new web home. I like the new clean look though I can’t promise I won’t tinker more with colors and art and the overall look as time goes by. A while back I decided I did not want to make any more blog posts to my old word press page, thinking of course that I was only weeks away from completion of this new abode, now I have no excuse for not sharing all the stories and thoughts that have been lurking around in my brain.

I usually think about subjects for articles or a blog post, or projects in the works while I am walking my dogs each day. The last walk of the day is usually just before dusk, the sun is getting ready to set and the dogs are full of themselves after lazing around all afternoon. I am usually quiet and thoughtful while the dogs tear around the fields, but after seeing a mountain lion on a recent evening stroll, I have started to announce my presence on some of the trails. I am my own personal “bear bell” now while on the tree lined path through the ravine. The dogs like my new noisy enthusiasm, though it doesn’t do much for my thoughtful evening stroll mentality. I am often thinking about Scoop and what our next training goal is and what my next few days of training should focus on with him.

I have also been thinking a lot lately how an agility handling system is a lot like a recipe. A great chef can substitute ingredients and come up with a different kind of creation without the whole thing flattening like a ruined soufflé, or curdling like sour milk. There are a lot of handlers tinkering with their systems right now. Some of it looks very impressive, some, maybe not so much.  I have many students wanting to experiment with blind crosses and all the sexy European moves. The most experienced of these “chefs” could probably add some spice to their system without risking the integrity of the creation.  Without the basic ingredients of a simple and proven agility system as the starting recipe,  the new moves may just look like sloppy handling and you are left with a dog questioning his every line. When done right, like Sylvia Trkmans run to win the EO in July,  the addition of the blind crosses and an incredible threadle move to a rear cross, made it all look like poetry and it was the ultimate in agility entertainment. I am not ready to do blind crosses yet, but must admit when a great agility handler puts all those ingredients together like Sylvia did, it is a tempting dish indeed. Watch Sylvia’s run on you tube.  (EO2012 – WINNER – Silvia & Bu)

I am still thinking in cowboy mode after the recent Bay Team Western Regional where our team of Ace, Sweep and Switch won the Team Tournament. Husband Jim was running Sweep and Geri Hernandez was running her barely two year old mini poodle Switch who never put a foot wrong in every team class! The event was great if I do say so myself, and I do since I was the trial chair:) Ace won the local Steeplechase Round one and the Regional GP round 1, and did some other great stuff too. Scoop’ was on a training team with his dog sister Motive and our team of Scoop/Motive/Bounce  managed to qualify and finish in 13th place out of 42 teams!  The photo is of Ace in the cool piece of art that was created just for this event. We all had lots of fun taking photos on the western “set”.

Ace, Western Regional GP, Rd 1, First place

I hope you will come back and visit the new site again soon, I promise to have more for you to read and watch and maybe even a bit of shopping too.

Nancy

It’s been a while since I wrote about Early Take Off. Like lots of projects it is often difficult to maintain momentum when the goals are grand and the steps to reach that goal are small and mostly informative in nature. Some time ago I wrote a  Q. and A. about Early Take Off based on questions which I have been asked over the years, I am just getting around to publishing it. You can read it here and it will have a special page of it’s own  here on my site. Linda Mecklenburg has written more on the subject and I hope to help keep that momentum going with this article. Read Linda’s new pages on ETS on her website http://www.awesomepaws.us/.

I hope you will share it with others, and keep the information and dialogue open about this frustrating syndrome.

I promise to write about how well Scoop is doing soon. With the help of Cindy Difranco’s massage video I just might be able to keep him moving soundly. I love the video, and think you will too.  http://www.difrancodogz.com/

All the best to you and yours, and sincere hopes for a fab 2012!

NJG

Questions and Answers about Early Takeoff,  by Nancy Gyes

Q: Why do dogs drop their head and add the little steps before they take off for a jump?

NJG: That is sometimes referred to as stutter stepping or measuring. Many, but not all ETS dogs add a small step and drop their head just before they take off early for the jump. Some dogs only do this on spreads or on jumps that are at least 20 feet apart and on a straight approach. Some dogs just take off early without the head drop. It is one of the known symptoms of ETS, and we do not know for sure why some dogs do or don’t do this. As the dog drops his head he might be trying to locate the jump by moving his head up and down.

Not all dogs that add steps and drop their head have ETS. At times an injury or body discomfort can cause a dog to add steps before they jump. Dogs that are uncomfortable jumping do not usually stutter step as well as take off early, they might even take off quite close to the jump.

Q: Why do some dogs jump short distances just fine but take off early for a jump once the distance between jumps gets to around 20 feet or more?

NJG: Since dogs cannot tell us what they see we can only speculate that since ETS dogs have greater difficulty jumping the longer distances, that they have more problems seeing or perceiving where the jump is when it is at a distance greater than around 15 feet.

Q: When *should* a dog take off for a jump?

NJG: Each dog has a comfortable takeoff distance for a jump. If the dog takes off 8 feet from a jump, but lands 8 feet from the jump, then that might be considered jumping long, but the jump distance is equal on ascent and descent of the jump and so is not considered “early”.

Q: How early is early?

NJG: On occasion a dog without ETS takes off at a slightly greater distance than they land on a jump. It could be a sign of beginning stages of ETS or it could be nothing at all. If your dog consistently takes off 7 feet from a jump but lands only 3 or 4 feet past the jump that would be considered early.

Q: Is ETS a problem with depth perception, and is there a test for that?

NJG: There is no eye test for depth perception in dogs. Our dogs cannot tell us exactly what they see and don’t see, and there is nothing in the dogs’ eye that is able to be measured to test their depth perception. Dogs’ eyes are different from ours and they do not have as good depth perception as people. We don’t know for sure how this affects their jumping.

Q: My sheltie usually jumps fine, but sometimes takes off a bit early for a triple, is that ETS?

NJG: It could be. Once you have your dog’s vision checked and you have also ruled out any kind of strain or injury that your dog might have, you would then begin to suspect ETS, especially if any of your dogs’ siblings, parents or other relations have ETS.

Q: My students’ dog jumps worse in the poorly lighted barn where we train, is that normal?

NJG: Some ETS dogs jump worse in poorly lighted buildings or under lights outdoors at night. Some struggle with different footings, like matting or dirt when they usually train on grass. If your dog is already stressing about their jumping it would be normal to expect a dog to struggle even more on different surfaces or in different lighting they are not familiar with.

Q: What kind of vision tests should be done on my dog? Are they expensive?

NJG: You should have a retinoscopy. In the SF Bay Area the test costs about $200. It could be more or less depending on the Animal Opthamologist you use.

Q: What is a retinoscopy, and do they put the dog to sleep to do it?

NJG: Your dogs’ eyes are looked at by the veterinarian using a retinoscope  and your dog will be awake and usually the owner is with the dog. The entire testing might last an hour.

Q: The local animal eye doctor does not do the recommended vision tests, where should I go?

NJG: You need to look for a veterinarian who is a Diplomate in Veterinary Opthamology, and that has tested many dogs using Retinoscopy. Some Veterinary Opthamologists have the machine but are not well versed in its’ use. Try doing a google search in your area or call some of the local Veterinary eye clinics for information. The retinoscopy is a test to determine a dog’s acuity. This potentially would determine if the dog is near or far-sighted, or if the difference between the eyes is great enough to warrant a prescription for contacts.

Q: My dog’s eyes have been checked and they are totally normal, is that common with ETS dogs?

NJG: Yes it is. ETS dogs usually test for being considered to have a normal range of vision.

Q: If ETS is a vision problem, why can’t you test a dog’s eyes to diagnose it?

NJG: There are many different kinds of diseases in people and animals, and not all of them are able to be diagnosed with specific testing. Some diseases are diagnosed by elimination of other diseases being present which CAN be tested. We are still hoping that advanced research may indeed discover something about our dogs’ eyes that will point to an answer regarding ETS.

Q: Why does my ETS dog jump angled jumps and jumps on a circle better than straight on approaches?

NJG: The current thinking is that since the jump is on an angle, that your dog has an easier time distinguishing the distance, and height of the jump since you have wings which are offset from each other. This could give your dog more perspective of the jump. There are some writings on dog vision which discuss the difference in how dogs see horizontal lines differently from vertical lines. This might explain why our ETS dogs need the vertical wings to help them analyze where the horizontal jump bar is. The most difficult jump for an ETS dog to distinguish is a jump that is placed 21 feet or greater from the previous jump and the dog has a straight approach to that jump, and the jump has multiple bars like a spread.

Q: I was told by my trainer not to get ahead of my dog so much, does it help to run right next to a dog that jumps early?

NJG: ETS dogs seem to struggle at times to find exactly where the jump bar is, so when the handler is a considerable distance forward of the jump, that gives the dog one more thing to consider in deciding where to take off for the jump. These dogs often do best when the handler does not run out too far ahead of the dog. This can be especially important when your dog jumps a spread.

Q: Do some dogs recover from ETS?

NJG: If your dog really has ETS they do not actually “recover”. Sometimes the dogs are only minimally affected, and for many years of competition the handler can manage the places on the course that the dog might take off too early. Over the years there have even been dogs with ETS on the AKC World Team, and many of those dogs and of course others compete at the highest level. Other dogs are affected more intensely and it is obvious that they are struggling too much to be jumped at regular completion heights.

Q: My friends and trainer tell me my dog is injured and I should not compete with her. I have had her checked by every kind of expert there is and they say she is totally sound. I think she has ETS, what should I do?

NJG: First, make an appointment for a full eye exam. There is no diagnostic tool yet for ETS, that is one of the goals for the trainers and veterinarians who are interested in helping owners with ETS dogs. Go to Linda Mecklenburg’s webpages and read the three articles on ETS and leave your name and information about your dog in the comments section at the bottom of the ETS pages. Awesome Paws- ETS

Leave your dog’s name, current age and age of onset of problem, eye test results if have have them and a link to a video of your dog jumping if you have it available.

Q: I have never corrected my dog for dropped bars, and I train very positively with her. I have been told that I have created the problem of early jumping by training incorrectly. Is there something I could have done to make my dog jump like this?

NJG: No, ETS is not “handler induced”. Almost all dogs can jump if they are sound, built reasonably well, and have normal vision. We can help or hinder our dogs’ who seem to have ETS, but in my opinion you cannot “give” your dog the symptoms of ETS, (taking off early). By correcting an ETS dog when they jump early or crash bars the problem can seem to get worse as the dog loses confidence, and the dog takes off even earlier to avoid touching the bar, which then leads to a circle of even worse jumping.

Q: What kind of jump drills could help my ETS dog?

NJG: Some owners of ETS dogs have found that training on straight lines can acerbate the problem. They do well with confidence building on training arcs and circles. The way to keep an ETS dog happy is with building confidence and adding lots of reinforcements to the kinds of patterns your dog already jumps well.

Video tape your dog so that you can watch them jumping in slow motion and possibly discover the areas that your dog seems uncomfortable. Repeated exposure to grids where your dog takes off early and appears uncomfortable may not be the right kind of training for your dog, especially if the bars are coming down. Build up your dogs’ confidence, use lots of rewards and absolutely no corrections. For some dogs even stopping to reset the bar points out an error to your dog and they may jump less confidently and henceforth, earlier, after you fix a downed bar.

Q: What can I do to help further the studies on dogs that take off early?

NJG: Your participation in open discussions about ETS may help your dogs as well as many others in the future. There is good reason to stay optimistic for many of our ETS dogs. Lots of dogs do not get progressively worse. We want to support handlers and dogs who are currently in this situation so that as many as possible can continue to participate in the sport they love in the most functional way possible. There is much to be learned by our dogs that show less severe signs. They ARE however related to the ones showing more extreme signs. We want to support the people who have ETS dogs and take advantage of the opportunity to learn from them.

What makes them worse, what makes them better? We can learn from that. Those handlers who believe their dogs may have vision problems are seeing patterns in how they can help them cope better in the way they train and handle. We can learn more about what the problem may be by observing these handlers who are very aware of their dogs’ tendencies to take off early. We also can look at familial patterns, as ETS seems to be hereditary since some families of dogs produce more ETS dogs.  While we hope a genetic study will be forthcoming, it may take a while for the DNA project to get started and for the studies to find the links.

Thanks for remaining open minded and supportive of research about ETS. With your help we may discover the cause of this problem and hopefully the cure.