PuppyLog

Going through a "tunnel".

I have absolutely no experience with Agility Training so I'm not sure that "through" is the conventional term for this, however I want to get started on something where Lila is moving away from me on command.

We start by using a tomato plant cage as a tunnel. Every time she goes near it, click and treat. She likes to climb on top, which gets no reward but it's kind of cool that she likes the unstable wobbley surface.

Once she is going to the tunnel for a click, I require her head to go inside it in order to get a click.  This takes only one session.

Once she is putting her head inside the tunel on her own, I require her to get all the way inside it before clicking and treating.

Next she must go all the way through. I am a bit impatient for this to happen on it's own so i lure her through the tunnel with funny sounds or with a stick. Three or four times of going through because of the lure (click and treat when she does) and she gets the idea.

When she is going through the tunnel on her own (away from me!) I say "through" just before the click/treat. She gets the idea. She will go through the tunnel when I say "tunnel" - though she had to think hard about it at first. Very cute. 

Third session: I take away the tomato cage and replace it with a large cardboard box. We have to back up a bit in the training but once she is interested in the box she gets the "through" command very quickly.  I continue using the box for several more sessions. I need to find something else to replace it soon so that she will learn that "through" means to go through anything, not just her own box. 

UPDATE: we go to a puppy agility intro class  a week later and Lila has no trouble going through the more official tunnels on command.