Building Drive

This section applies to all dogs that require a little more drive (puppies, 
rescues and current dogs.)  What does your dog like?  Food? Toys?  If yes, 
then great.  You have many motivators for your dog.  Your dog doesn't care 
about either?  Hmmm...Now you will have to get creative. I met one man 
with a low drive German Shepherd that discovered his dog loves bubbles.  
So now after each agility run, the man blows bubbles for his dog.  The dog 
goes crazy jumping in the air snapping at them.  Strange, yes.  But it 
works.  Dog and handler are happy.

Once you have found a motivator for your dog, start playing games with him.  
You need to teach the dog that if the dog does something you want, you give 
the dog something they want.  The easiest way to teach this is with something 
simple like sit or down.  The mistake a lot of people make though, is to use 
the motivator as a lure.  The result is that the dog only performs the desired 
task when the motivator is present.  That's the problem with owning such a 
smart breed!  So what do you do?  Well, I have tennis balls located around the 
house.  At random times (usually when I'm cleaning or something), I will ask 
Hank to do something such as lie down.  If he does it, I grab one of the balls 
nearby and throw it to him.  He's quite happy.  Sometimes I'll say "Are you 
ready?"  If he gives me an intense focused look, I'll throw him a ball.  When 
I get to the start line, I ask Hank "Are you ready?"  He gets focused and 
intense because he knows that something good is about to happen.  Mix it up.  
Sometimes give the dog food, sometimes a toy, sometimes scratch the dog's 
belly.  Keep the dog guessing, he will think you are absolutely fascinating.

While building drive, you are also teaching the dog how to learn.  You are 
also teaching the dog what makes you tick.  Be very consistant and the dog 
will be successful and think that you are interesting.  If you are inconsistent 
with your reward system, the dog will get confused, frustrated and will 
probably end up quitting or being inconsistent himself in his performances.

I would like to address the issue of playing tug with your dog.  I have had 
people ask me why I play tug because it could make my dog aggressive.  I 
have trained 7 dogs (4 aussies, a dalmatian, a sheltie and a terrier mix) 
and have played tug with all of them.  None of them have become aggressive 
because of it.  The tugging game and playing with toys has increased their 
drive and made them run courses more aggressively, but it has not made them 
aggressive towards me.  I like to have a ball on a rope, so that I can let 
the dog chew and tug on the ball without him running away to play alone.  
The dog should interact with me, as all good things come from me.  We tug 
for a minute or two and then I say "Trade".  The dog releases the ball 
(sometimes he needs a little motivation) and gets a little cookie or tidbit.  
Then we go onto the next exercise.  I always try to end on a good note with 
the dog being successful.  If the dog is having a hard time with the day's 
exercise, make it easier so they can be successful at the end and reward.  
On the last exercise, I reward the dog by throwing the ball.  The dog is 
allowed to take the ball and run off and chew on it for several minutes.  
Some people say you shouldn't let your dog 'win' by leaving with the ball.  
Why not?  Shouldn't your dog feel like he 'won' the training session?  Your 
dog should feel like a winner.  He should love this game of agility because 
he always 'wins' and he's good at it.  Don't you like to win?  The next time 
you come out to train, your dog will be happy to be there because he knows 
"Oh this is the game that I'm so good at, I get paid a lot of cookies to do 
it and I am able to win a tennis ball at the end.  Oh what fun!  Let's get 
started!"

Developing bidibility
This is a little more difficult, but certainly doable.  I think one of the 
biggest biddibility problems in aussies is impulse control.  Examples of lack 
of impulse control are breaking their sit at the start line, jumping off contacts,
going off course into tunnels or other 'fun' obstacles.  It usually helps to 
work on impulse control away from agility first and then once you have a 
handle on it, incorporate it into your agility training.  It's not fair to 
overload the dog by working on several issues all at once.  You will be more 
successful if you can break it down into smaller easily learned lessons.

One of the best exercises I have used to build impulse control is having the 
dog sit or lie down and stay.  Throw a ball or toy.  If your dog takes off as 
soon as you make the throwing motion, he doesn't have much impulse control.  
You will want to work with your dog until you are able to throw the ball and 
then tell your dog "Ok, get it" and release him.  This sounds like obedience....
You say.  Well, yes.  There is a certain amount of obedience that is required 
in agility to be successful.  You might be able to get away without it, but 
when you need it and it is there, it is very nice.

Another agility related exercise is sitting the dog at the start line.  Walk 
out several paces and turn to face your dog.  Say "Hi doggie, good doggie, 
oh you're so smart."  Then walk back and give your dog a huge reward for 
staying.  Don't always lead out five steps, turn and say ok.  Your smart 
aussie will anticipate this and eventually start breaking.  Mix it up and 
keep him guessing.  If your aussie can't even stay when there is a jump in 
front of him, make it easier.  Move the jump farther away.  Move it far 
enough away that he can stay when you take one step out.  Reward.  Slowly 
move the jump closer.  Slowly add more steps.  If the dog fails, you went 
too fast.  If the dog breaks and goes sailing over the jump, don't reprimand 
or correct him.  Why?  Because he failed the sit but he executed the jump 
perfectly.  If you correct him, you have told him you are unhappy with his 
jumping performance (since that is the last thing he remembers.)  If you 
correct him, he may alter his jumping performance next time.  He might, 
for instance, go around it instead. Or even worse, he may slow down and 
be less enthusiastic.  (This is how you create slow dogs.)  So if he breaks, 
just take him by the collar and put him back on the line.  No cookies, no 
corrections.  When he gets to the line, put him in a sit, pat him on the
head, and try again.  If he fails again, you have made it too hard, take 
a step back and make it easier.  If he succeeds, then give him a jackpot 
and make a big fuss about what a clever dog he is.