Weeks 3 & 6 “Doggy Sports Day”

Weeks 3 and 6 of Canine Games are known as “Doggy Sports Day”. The activities in weeks 3 and 6 of Canine Games are the same: each activity has points attached to it and the dog with the most points wins a prize for both owner and dog. If you don’t win, you’ll have plenty of time from week 3 to improve on your score and knock the winner off the top spot when we go head to head for the final in week 6!

The activities you’ll need to practice in order to get the most points are: The Biscuit Balance, Obedience Course Race, Distance Catch, Woof Relay, Musical Chairs, KONG Challenge and Recall Relay.

THE BISCUIT BALANCE
The Biscuit Balance is a really straightforward test of patience, endurance and obedience! 10 points are awarded for the longest time that a biscuit of your choice can be balanced on the dog’s nose or paws without the dog touching it, eating it or it falling off of the dog.

Training Tips
The key to success to The Biscuit Balance is essentially a really rock-solid “Sit-Stay”, although you might find it useful to teach a good “leave” cue, too. Patience and short regular training sessions with lots of reward for even the tiniest amount of time that the dog remains still. Slowly build up the time but don’t be tempted to rush it in the early stages of training: remember, keep it fun and make the dog win!

OBEDIENCE COURSE RACE
The Obedience Course Race tests how well the basic obedience cues have been mastered when the dog is excited. 6 cones are set out in a line spaced equally apart, sandwhiched between a start line and a finish line. Each dog takes it in time to race from one end of the course to the other, stopping at each cone for a different obedience task. The dog who completes the course in the quickest time is awarded 6 points.
Cone 1 is a 10 second “Sit - Stay”; Cone 2 is a 5 second “Watch”; Cone 3 is a “Sit - Down - Sit”; Cone 4 is a 5 second “Down - Stay”; Cone 6 is a “Sit - Down - Sit - Stand - Down - Stand”.

Training Tips
Really brush up on rapid position changes as time is they key in the Obedience Course Race: sluggish sits and dreary downs are going to cost you valuable seconds!

DISTANCE CATCH
Each handler has three attempts to throw an object of their choice (ball, toy, Frisbee, etc) for their dog to catch. Prior to each throw, the dog must wait at one of three distances: 3 paces, 5 paces and 10 paces. The owner must remain behind the Throwing Line before throwing the object and until a Fair Catch has been signaled by the judges. For a Fair Catch, the dog must catch the object using jaws and/or paws before the object touches the ground and after catching the object, the dog must land with all four paws on the ground.

Points
1 point is awarded for a Fair Catch at 3 paces; 2 points for a Fair Catch at 5 paces and 10 points for a Fair Catch at 10 paces.

Training Tips
Aside from dog training tips, there are some obvious human requirements for this game. Considerable thought should be given to the choice of object: handlers should practice throwing straight and increasing the distance of their throws, and handlers should address the strategy of the game.

Choose an object that is safe. Also, the choice of object will strongly influence accuracy, distance and ease of catching. The owner should try to throw the object on as low a trajectory as possible. High throws go a long way up and a long way down but not too far horizontally. Also, with high throws, the dogs often lose sight of the object. Tennis balls tend to bounce out of the dog’s jaws. Soft toys are easy to catch but too light to throw great distances and are much more difficult to throw accurately. In one competition a handler threw a soft toy so high, that it caught the air currents and landed behind them! Frisbees travel the greatest distance, but require greater expertise to throw accurately. A beanbag with a rope tail is one of the easiest objects for the dog to catch and it may be thrown accurately and over great distances with a low trajectory.

Distance Catch is a strategic game, similar to a long jump competition. Aside from the ability to catch the object, a solid and attentive “sit-stay” is the secret to success when positioning the dog at a specific distance. Many dogs will walk back towards their owners after being positioned and even if they catch the object, the distance is much less than the handler had hoped for.

WOOF RELAY
The Woof Relay is a timed event; each handler and dog competes one-at-a-time against the clock. Each dog has to woof three times and then shush. The dog with the shortest total time for 15 woofs wins.

Points
15 points for the dog with the shortest total time.

Training Tips
First, you need to teach your dog to speak on cue. Your dog might bark eventually, especially if you do all sorts of silly things, like jump up and down, roll on the floor, sing, or bark at your dog. But that won’t fly for this competition. What you need for this game is a dog who instantly barks three times when you say “Speak!” anytime, anywhere. You need to teach your dog to speak on cue in a variety of different settings and to objectively test your dog’s reliability. Walk your dog and every 25 yards say, “Speak!” (just once). Note the percentage of times your dog barks following a single request and how long it takes for your dog to bark three times on each occasion.

The wonderful bonus of teaching your dog to Woof on cue is that Woof Relay dogs seldom become problem barkers. Teaching your dog to speak on cue enables you to teach your dog to shush at times that are convenient to you. For example, it is inconvenient and difficult to teach your dog to shush at 3:00am when you’re asleep and your dog is bent out of shape because a fox is raiding the rubbish bins. Instead, relax, say, “Speak,” praise your dog for woofing and then:
1. Say, “Shush! and immediately 2. Waggle a piece of liver treat under your dog’s nose. As soon as your dog sniffs the liver, 3. He will stop barking and so, 4. Calmly praise him, “Good shush one. Good shush two. Good shush three… and so on and then, eventually give him the treat. Repeat the Woof/Shush sequence over and over.

After teaching dogs to “Speak” and “Shush” on cue, owners may further teach their dogs to shush when people walk by the house, to bark should people step on the property, but to shush again as soon as people are invited indoors.

MUSICAL CHAIRS
Musical Chairs is a doggy variation of the classic children’s game. Music plays as owners walk with their dogs off-leash counter-clockwise around a rectangular area. A line of chairs (with alternating chairs facing in opposite direction) runs down the center of the rectangle. When the music stops, the handlers instruct their dogs to sit by verbal request and/or hand signal only, (i.e., without touching them), and rush to sit on a vacant chair in the center of the rectangle. Musical chairs is meant to be a non-contact sport: with the exception of two human rear ends making contact when attempting to sit simultaneously on the same seat, physical contact with any dog or other competitors is not allowed.

The dogs must remain in sit-stays outside of the rectangle. If a dog breaks his sit-stay, or if any part of the dog’s body causes a Line Fault by cutting the line of the rectangle, (paw-faults and tail faults included), the handler must vacate their chair and completely leave the rectangular area to re-sit their dog without contact before trying to find an empty chair once more.

There are always fewer chairs than handlers. The chair-less handler may attempt to get other dogs to break their sit stays by sweet-talking, calling, offering food treats, and by generally acting silly. However, the handler must not use any dog’s name and they must not touch or frighten any dog. Once all of the chairs are occupied by handlers whose dogs remain in sit stays outside of the rectangle, the handler left standing is eliminated. One chair is removed from the line and the next round begins. The winner is the last owner and dog remaining.

Points
5 points are awarded for the winner

Training Tips
Playing musical chairs teaches dogs two of the most useful pet dog skills: a lightning-fast, off-leash, emergency “Sit” plus a rock-solid “Sit-Stay”. When dogs are successful at playing Musical Chairs, they will take a quantum leap in terms of their quality of life because when owners have such a high degree of off-leash control, they are much more likely to take their dogs to parks and on off-leash walks.

Also, dogs with prompt and reliable Sit-Stays are likely to be given full-run of the house, rather than being locked away when visitors arrive. Dogs with reliable Sit-Stays are just much more fun to live with. A quick Sit and solid Stay prevent or resolve well over 90% of possible behaviour and training problems because sitting and misbehaving are usually mutually exclusive activities. For example, your dog cannot jump-up, chase his tail, chase the cat, practice agility in your living room, dash out the front door, or lunge on leash and sit at the same time. When in doubt, just say, “Sit!”.

Musical Chairs is played off-leash and handlers are not allowed to touch their dogs, so that owners are encouraged to achieve verbal, off-leash, and distance control over their dogs. If owners were allowed to tug on the dog’s leash to encourage him to follow, or to push on the dog’s rump to prompt or coerce him to sit, they would come to rely on leash-tugs and rump-pushes and so, would have no control over their dog if he were off-leash and out of hands reach. When a dog is off-leash, at a distance and looking away from his owner, verbal control is essential.

To gain a competitive edge in Musical Chairs, heel your dog on your right-hand side to keep him as far away from the rectangle when walking counter-clockwise, then he will be less likely to cause a Line Fault when you hustle towards the chairs when the music stops. Whereas, if your dog heels on your left, he will likely sit very close to the Fault Line of the rectangle.

When first watching Musical chairs, many people ask whether it is fair for the chair-less competitors to try and get other dogs to break their Sit-Stays, especially when the chair-less people call the dog, “Puppy, come here,” when they say and signal “Down!” and when they enticingly waggle or toss a food treat. Of course it’s fair! Not only is it fair, but also, ultra-proofing a dog’s Sit-Stay is one of the most important training exercises. For example, let’s say your dog is off-leash in the dog park and suddenly, you notice that some unthinking owner is holding the gate wide open and your dog is rushing towards the street. You instantly shout, “Rover, Sit” and your dog immediately and obediently screams to a halt in a Sit-Stay. However outside the park a little girl is calling her dog in a sweet voice, “Come here, Molly. Come on puppy. Come and get some of my ice cream”. Do you want your dog to remain in a Sit-Stay, or run out of the park to the little girl? Obviously, we would like the dog to remain in a Sit-Stay, that’s why we proof dogs to respond only to commands, that are preceded by their name and to ignore all others. When you instruct your dog to Sit-Stay, you do not want him to respond to other people. Similarly, if you live with more than one dog and say, “Rover, Sit. Fido, Come,” you want Rover to sit and Fido to come, not vice versa. A dog has a name for a reason and so let’s use it prior to every command where a reliable response is essential.

KONG CHALLENGE
In one of the most exciting and fast-paced games, dogs have just one minute to accumulate as many points as possible by retrieving chewtoys of different point values from an enclosed retrieval area. Black KONGs are valued at 5 points, red KONGs at 3 points and KONG Tails 10 points. The handler stands in a square Handler’s Box within a square penalty box. In order for points to score, the handler must be able to take or pick up the object (with at least one part of their body remaining grounded in the Handler’s Box) and place it in a plastic bucket. If the dog brings back a Bonus Bear (soft toy) the final score is doubled, whereas if the dog’s paw enters or cuts the line of the Penalty Box while he is carrying a Penalty Bone in his jaws, the final score is halved. The dog with the highest score wins.

Training Tips
Practice in many different places, with other dog’s KONGs and make sure to teach your dog discriminated-retrieves, IE: your dog needs to be trained to reliably retrieve a Bear or a Black KONG when requested.

Many owners fall into the comfortable trap of only training in familiar settings with familiar objects — the dog’s own KONGs. When it comes time to compete, the dog spends the entire minute running round the arena sniffing each KONG in turn looking for his own, and the final score is zero. It is important to practice with other dog’s KONGs and to do so in a variety of settings — in different people’s homes and gardens and in parks and on walks. It is essential that your dog is as reliable in the arena as he is at home. Walk your dog with friends and their dogs and every 25 yards each person puts down a KONG for another dog to retrieve.

Many handlers think that it is sufficient to compete with a “retrieving fool” — a high-speed retriever who simply lives to retrieve and will bring back object after object non-stop. Usually they fair pretty well in competition because they bring back so many objects. However, sometimes their tally consists of toys with a low point value, or even Penalty Bones. For example, the dog may bring back ten objects within the one minute period — six black KONGs, two red KONGs and two penalty bones, the total score is only 9 points. Compare this to a dog who picks up three Bonus Bears and shovels the fourth Bear back to his handler on his very first run. This meant that his next three retrieves — three Black KONGs — were each worth double-double-double-double 5 points (80 points) for a total score of 240.

To win this game your dog needs to be taught which specific objects he should retrieve. Teach your dog discriminated-retrieves in the same way that you would teach your dog to find your lost keys, or the remote control for the television.

Dogs that compete successfully in KONG Challenge become absolutely KONG crazy and seldom become destructive chewers or excessive barkers when left at home alone. They have become KONGaholics and would much rather lie down and chew their food-stuffed KONGs than destroy the house or bark all day. Also, dogs are taught not even to touch, let alone pick up, forbidden articles, such as Penalty Bones but instead, to redirect their retrieving urges to KONGs.

RECALL RELAY
Dogs may be instructed to “Sit Stay”, or be held by other team members behind the Start Line, while the handlers walk across the arena to stand behind the Finish Line, facing their respective dogs ten yards away. Most teams elect to have holders, because after three false starts, the dog is eliminated. Also the dog holders may amp-up the dogs prior to a catapult release.

After the judge, says, “Ready… Steady… Go!” the handlers call their dogs. Each dog is required to come and sit (entirely across the Finish Line) in the shortest time possible. The Recall is repeated three times.

Points
The dog fastest past the Finish Line (IE the best recall) and sitting is awarded 10 points.

Training Tips
All dogs need to be super-friendly and confident around people, because they are held by other team members at the Start Line. As in the Doggy Dash, fast and reliable recalls are pretty much taken for granted. To gain the competitive edge, team members want to teach their dogs quick Sits and Downs and learn to pay attention to what their team members are doing.

Recall Relay handlers become safer handlers: when walking their dogs, they are very quick to get the dog to come and/or sit should the safety or distracting nature of the environment change for the worse, for example, if children are approaching, or if other dogs or animals are on the loose.

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