Rear Crosses.

[whitka]

What is the best way to start teaching rear crosses?

Edited January 31, 2010 by whitka

[laffi]

you need to teach your dog to drive ahead of you

[Vickie]

Start with your dog on your left on front of a jump (about a metre or 2 away).

Have your reward in your right hand

Send your over the jump, supporting it with your left hand

As the dog takes the jump, move behind them and meet them with your right hand

If the dog turns to the right, ignore & try again

As soon as the dog turns to the left, reward heavily.

after doing this a few times, swap sides so they understand that your body language means turn away

Once they are consistently turning the right way, you can add a cue & extend distance /angles, try with different obstacles etc.

I originally taught my RC's on the ground with no obstacles, but I like this way better.

I'm not keen on teaching them to drive ahead, as most of the RC's we do now are very tight so I don't want them accelerating through the cross & blasting ahead when they are turning tight.

Hope thsi helps, JMO.

Edited February 1, 2010 by Vickie

[Kavik]

There is some work you can do on the flat. You can put your dog in a sit and move back so you are behind them and a bit to the side. Then start walking so that you cross their 'line'. When they turn their head around to see you on the other side release and reward. (not sure if I've explained that well. Much easier by demonstration )

[ness]

Any chance of a video clip Vickie - I just tried out in the yard and I am not sure if I am doing it correctly. I have never really been able to use a rear cross because I am always able to get ahead and get in a front cross but I don't think that will be the case with my youngster.

[pie]

At training we have practised them by sending dog over a jump and crossing behind, and throwing a toy in the direction you are crossing to. Not sure if that makes sense? We also do the sitting/walking behind exercise Kavik described.

[Nicole...]

We taught rear crosses much the same as Vickie explained. The only thing that I wanted to add is that you need to have some form to your gesture to let them know it is a rear cross you are doing. I really drop the shoulder of the side that I am going to, almost like the action of bowling a bowling ball when I am running towards the jump, which tells Lomani that I want a rear cross from her and she is turning for it from the second she takes off. We frequently get commended on our rear crosses so can vouch that this works well

While she isn't the fastest dog out there, I'm certainly not the fastest handler so it is nice to have good solid rear crosses so you have open options if they do manage to get ahead of you on course ;)

[Vickie]

At training we have practised them by sending dog over a jump and crossing behind, and throwing a toy in the direction you are crossing to. Not sure if that makes sense?

That's exactly what I was trying to describe (except you made it sound so much simpler, LOL). I prefer to reward from the hand rather than throw though.

Any chance of a video clip Vickie

Here you go:

I had to do it with Zeus, since the girls already know it & would just get it right every time. Bear in mind he is nearly 13 & hasn't done a RC (or any agility) for 5 years. When he goes the wrong way, I just reset him, he gets to play when he gets it right. He was a tad to excited to attempt a startline so I had to hold him.

[ness]

Wouldn't have mattered if they were always getting it right I was trying to work out what it was suppose to look like but Zeus was a good demo dog. Thanks that helped a lot. Will have to give it another go and it feels very strange. I think I was still rewarding if she initially turned the wrong way but then corrected and maybe that was confusing it.

ETA. And Vickie Zeus is looking really fit for 13 - I hope Ness is still as keen to do something at that age .

Edited February 1, 2010 by ness

[Kavik]

Here's an example of flatwork foundation work for rear crosses

[Vickie]

Wouldn't have mattered if they were always getting it right

It probably would have, all I have to do is think it & they do it, so it would have been hard to demonstrate.

I think I was still rewarding if she initially turned the wrong way but then corrected and maybe that was confusing it.

I would NEVER correct for this...they don't know it so I don't correct it. Lack of reward is more than enough information for them.

ETA. And Vickie Zeus is looking really fit for 13

He's a good boy, if a bit of a pain in the butt at times always wanting to join in.

[ness]

Well success I had to do a few on the flat but when we then went back to the jump she was 100% without spinning the wrong direction after a few attempts. First few she went to go the wrong way so I withheld the frisbee. Then it was virtually automatic.

I attempted the other direction and that was a bit of a disaster and not sure if it was because I tried the other side first or because I felt less coordinated doing it the other way or whether she just isn't as happy on the other side. Will give it another go sometime in the next few days though.

Sorry Vickie by correction I meant she self corrected would go to turn the wrong way (like Zeus did) and spin and then come back to me in the correct direction to where the toy was and I was rewarding that originally by letting her tug.

Ah well thanks for posting the question whikta - I now have the makings of a new agility tool in my tool box this morning that I wouldn't have otherwise tried.

[Tassie]

FWIW - Greg Derrett ahd us starting off with the stationary flatwork - similar to what Kavik showed - only he had us do it more slowly - and working up to crossing the line much further back, marking the head turn as we crossed the line, then rewarding from the hand nearest the dog - still facing forward. Then he moved on to flat work dog driving ahead (if they would) for a toy. And then with jumps - similar to what Vickie was showing.

[RubyStar]

Thanks for the videos on this! I'm an agility noob that I don't even know what most of the terminology means, but wanting to start training so videos showing things are always good!

[whitka]

No problem Ness :D

Thanks for the vids, i'll have to start on the flat since my girl has never seen a jump before.