Obedience exercises can be divided into 3 types depending on the distance away from you the dog must travel and how much they must do while they are out there.
(1) Close Exercises: The dog is expected to be comfortable working close to you (effectively in having you in his space), or having someone else in his space (as with the stand for exam).
(2) Medium Distance Quick Exercises: While separated from you by a "medium distance" (usually about 10 feet) the dog must feel comfortable enough to preform one single quick exercise.
(3) Long Distance Complex Exercises: While separated from you by a "long distance" (usually the full length of the ring) the dog must feel comfortable enough to preform a whole series of exercise that may take some thought and patience.
Now lets exam the obedience exercises and determine if they fit in the category 1, 2, or 3.
Novice:
Heel on Leash + figure 8 = 1
Stand for Exam = 1 (must feel comfortable with someone else close to them)
Heel off Leash = 1
Recall = 1 (though you leave the dog at a distance the object of the exercise is for them to quickly return to you).
Open:
Heel off Leash + figure 8 = 1
Drop On Recall = 2 (dog must be willing to stop, at a distance from you, and preform another action)
Retrieve on Flat = 2 (dog must leave your side and preform another action)
Retrieve on Flat = 2
Broad Jump = 2 (again, though they are not far away from you, the dog must none-the-less do something in another direction before returning to you).
Utility:
Signals = 3 (dog must be willing to preform a series of exercises while separated from you)
Scent Discrimination = 3 (dog must be willing to preform a complex task that takes patience and concentration and time while separated from you)
Gloves = 3 (dog must be willing to preform a task that takes some thought)
Moving Stand for Exam = 1
Directed Jumping = 3 (go-outs .... need I say more)
Summary:
Novice: 1,1,1,1 average=1
Open: 1,2,2,2 average=1.75
Utility: 3,3,3,1,3 average=2.6
From the pattern above it is obvious that Novice tests for how well the dog is willing to work near you, and to let other people near them, Open tests how comfortable your dog is to leave your side to complete one simple task when asked, and Utility tests weather your dog can be comfortable while preforming a whole series of complex exercises away from you.
Things to Keep in Mind:
I believe distance is a important component of obedience to recognize and train for.
* Think about when and where you are asking your dog to work and how you are telling your dog that they are no longer working (never let distance be the way you signal to your dog they are no longer working). Dogs have a definite sense of when they are working and when they are not. How many times have you notice a wonderful working dog that starts sniffing and running around once the handler is separated from the dog by a large distance in the agility ring. Sure this may be stress on the dogs part but it also may be that the dog is never asked to work at that distance. The "invisible leash" between dog and handler is broken or doesn't extend to that distance. The handler being 10 feet away, say, may actually signal to the dog that it is play-time, since that is the only time the handler is 10 feet away from the dog.
* Think about WHERE you are rewarding your dog. If all praise, toys, treats, etc... are given to your dog close to you (from your hands or mouth) then close to you becomes a WONDERFUL place to be. This is fine for Novice, in fact essential for Novice. But as you being moving through Open and Utility start thinking about ways to make working AWAY FROM YOU also a comfortable and rewarding situation. For example: Run out and treat your dog the moment they pick up the dumbbell out where you threw it sometimes, Give them treats at the gate or even through the gate for go-outs, throw a toy for them after the sit in the Utility signal exercise, you get the idea. You can run out to the spot where the dog is working and give treats from your hand, you can throw a toy, you can throw a toy containing treats (food tube or any number of toys with treat pockets), you can release the dog to a toy or sealed container containing food that is located in another part of the ring (such as a small tupperware container, important that it is sealed so dog doesn't release and reward themselves), be creative.
* Think about extending your connection with your dog (the distance at which you still have their attention). When I show Novice I walk my dog on a 6 foot (or even 4 foot leash) as often as I can (certainly at the show site, and likely on all walks the week prior to the show). I get them use to defaulting to being and staying close to me. When I show in Open or Utility on the other hand I walk my dogs on a flexi-leash (or no leash when safe). I make sure my control over them and their connection with me will stand the test of that distance.
* Think about your day to day interaction with your dogs and the games you play with them. Think about how you can add new games to extend the distance at which they are comfortable working. There was a wonderful article written by Rachel Tabor Flatley for Dec 2008 Clean Run Magazine called "Think Outside the Box and the Ring". In this article Rachel writes "what you do (and don't do) outside the ring enters the ring with you". Rachel goes on to talk about warming up your dog keeping in mind what will be expected of them in the ring. For example if a lot of sends and lateral distance is required on course, warm your dog up by allowing them to approach the practice jump with some independence (loose leash, walking at a distance from you, or walking ahead of you), and than practice sends to the practice jump. Play retrieving games (building the dogs confidence being sent away from you) such as sending the dog away from you and than throwing a toy as a reward. If on the other hand the course requires lots of tight sequences that require the dog to have lots of handler focus, than make sure you walk your dog to the practice jump on a short leash with lots of focus on you, and do some tight focused jumps or figure 8 over the jump. Play, handler focused games, like hand touches. What Rachel is talking about in this article is developing a proper warm up routine with the agility course you are about to run in mind. But I think that this can easily be extended into obedience exercises that require your dog to be comfortable working at different distances (as we enumerated above) and can be extended to your day to day play and interaction with your dog. For example if you are preparing for Novice play lots of handler focused, being-near-me-is-a-good-place-to-be games. If you are preparing for Open play lots of going-away-is-fun-games such as retrieving, sending out to a toy, and give your dog more independence on leash. When preparing for Utility your dog should be totally comfortable working away from you while still being able to feel connected to you and paying attention to you. Consider teaching tricks that require your dog to work away from you, or play find-it-games, or teach your dog to back away from you (the further they get the more reward they get and they are paying attention to you all the time). Give your dogs lots of independence and walk them off leash when safe. Make sure you teach the dog that being 40' from you is still a place where they can pay attention and work and not a signal that they are allowed to complete disassociation from you and do their own thing or a reason to panic.
In a later post I will give some suggestions for games and tricks you can teach to help your dog become comfortable working at each different level 1-3.
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