A Three-Jump Exercise

I expanded on the two jump exercise I used yesterday to teach Belle to take the back side of a jump even when I was at quite a lateral distance from her.  I tried it out with all three of the Aussies this morning to see if they would get the idea.  I was absolutely astounded when Dusty and Libby were able to do the opening of the South African course after just a little work on this training exercise :-)

Step One:  Lead out.  Release dog to jump #1.  Step toward the wing of #2 and direct dog to the back side of the jump.  Once your dog understands what you are indicating with your motion, add a verbal.  (I use "ausen.")  Finally, alternate wrapping #2 in both directions and sending to the backside of #2.

Step Two:  Gradually increase the lateral distance of your lead out.  Be sure to work both directions.










Step Three:  Now it's time to start angling the first jump.  Since you are increasing the difficulty of the exercise, lead out as close to the wing of #2 as necessary for your dog to be successful.  Then work on increasing the lateral distance of your lead out.  Remember to lead out as close as necessary to the wing of #2 each time you increase the angle of the first jump.  Once your dog is comfortable with the new angle of #1, it is a good idea to occasionally direct him to jump and wrap as in Step One.