Distance Exercises

Exercise 1:
Mark a gamble line 1 to 2 metres away from a line of jumps, and place your dog between the jumps and line. Get as close as possible to the line, turn your feet outwards to facilitate this, and lean forward to get even closer. Now, send your dog over the jump; you may flail your arms wildly and scream as necessary. Continue until this approach seems pointless.

Exercise 2:
Set up a gamble line as before. Run as fast as you can towards the line then stop dead (think of a dog sitting on the roof of your car, as you stop, woosh, the dog will accelerate past you). Repeat until it becoms evident that just as your dog accelerates with you, it also stops when you do.

Exercise 3:
With the gamble line set up, run along it throwing an imaginary ball or otherwise flagellating your arms wildly in a windmill fashion. Continue until your dog is conned into believing you have thrown something, or you manage to affect weather patterns and create a wind that propels your dog over the gamble obstacles.

Exercise 4:
Learn the Laws of a Dog in Motion

1. The dog turns when the handler turns.
2. The dog tends to work on a path parallel to the handler's path.
3. A dog ahead of the handler tends to turn back to the handler's position.
4. The dog gets its speed cue from the handler's speed
5. the dog gets its direction cue from the handler's body language.