„Why using a clicker in Agility? It works fine without one!” Well, of course Agility works without a clicker, but if you do use Clickertraining in Agility, it opens so many opportunities that make it easier. Especially the Foundation Work can be improved by Clickertraining. For me Clickertraining became an important tool not only in Agility. If you use a Clicker (or another secondary reinforcer) you need to make sure that you reward your dog after every click. Here are just a few examples on how to use Clickertraining in Agility:

Contacts:

There are a couple different ways to teach your dog 2on/2off Contacts (Example: Dogwalk. I don’t describe the whole process, just the parts Clickertraining is used in):

Free Shaping

Free shape the position. Reward every small step that gets you closer to the behavior you want. (i.e. Dog looking at dogwalk, walking towards it, jumping on it). Once your dog finds his 2on/2off position reliably, you can start to back chain the dogwalk (move your dog further back on the dogwalk before releasing him to get into position. Continue moving your dog further back, when you got a few successful repetitions at one stage, until he can do the whole dogwalk.) Only click if the dog meets your criteria. ( for example: front feet on flour, hind feet on contact, getting in position fast, staying in position till released or clicked)


Target

· The dog learns to touch a target with his nose or paws. Shape your dog to touch a target (i.e. a plastic lid). Place the target right in front of the dogwalk contact. Put your dog on the contact and click him for every touch he does. Then start backchaining the dogwalk with the target in place. After a lot of repetitions, you can remove the target, but still click your dog for the correct position.



Apart from 2on/2off, there are other ways of teaching a dog contacts. I don’t want to mention all of them, cause I think 2on/2off’s are effective and easy to train.

Weaves 

I said there are many different ways of teaching contacts, but there are even more ways of teaching your dog how to weave. For some, Clickertraining doesn’t make sense, for others, you don’t need it, but you can use it, and for even other methods, you have to have some understanding of it in order to be successful.


Free Shaping

For shaping the weaves, I would recommend using the 2x2 method. You start with just one gate and shape the dog to go through it. Then you add more and more gates. You have to position them in the correct way to help your dog get the idea. The dog has to think about what to do and how to move his body. For this method, you really need some knowledge about Clickertraining.


Channel weaves 

It really only makes sense to use Clickertraining in the channel weaves method when training entries. If you use wires and you already removed some in the middle, you can click when the dog is at the gates without wires. That way he learns that it is more rewarding to do the weaves without wires.

In general, it is always good to use Clickertraining when training entries. But to be able to do that, your dog should have learned to finish the weaves after the click.



Jumping Foundation 

As more and more people in Agility realize, it is very important to teach your dog how to jump. Therefore, the dog needs to learn that it is his job to keep the bars up. He needs to understand that the fun will stop when he knocks a bar. To help your dog understand, you can use Clickertraining.



Free Shaping 

Sit next to a jump with the bar set pretty low. Wait till your dog offers to go over the jump. You can toss your cookies in the direction the dog is jumping. If your dog repeatedly offers to jump, set the bar higher. Every time your dog is consistently successful at one height, raise your criteria and set the bar some inches higher, until you have reached your dogs competition jumping height. If your dog knocks a bar, withhold the click and the cookie. Let him try again. If he repeatedly knocks the bar, set it a few inches lower again. That way he learns that he is in control of when to get a cookie. 



For more information on how to train 2on/2off contacts and 2x2 weaves, read “Shaping Success” by Susan Garrett. For more information on Jumping, read “Developing Jumping Skills” by Linda Mecklenburg.