Susan Garrett agility cues

[quangle]

Hi, I have been doing agility training with my dog at a dog club, run by volunteers.  Most of the trainers seem to use terms such Ia  la la (ie. going around the backside of a jump)  digga, check and tis (I'm sure there are more)  which I understand come from Susan Garrett.  I am wondering if anyone can give me a run down on all the different cues and what they actually mean?

 

It  is always busy after class and I haven't yet found the opportunity to get someone to explain them to me properly, and even so I would need to write them down to remember them all at once which is difficult in the chaos of packing up etc.  

 

All Susan Garretts stuff seems to be pretty tightly locked down on the net, so despite my best searching efforts I can't find anything on the www.

 

Can anyone help please?  I would love to be able to work through it all in my head outside class.  

Thanks so much if you can help.

 

[sheena]

I don't bother with all that stuff.  For the backside of a jump I just use "push" because I am doing a push behind.  To do a 360 over a jump I just use "go round".  So much simpler to put cue words on behaviours that come to you naturally.  Years ago with my first agility dog, I followed Greg Derret & when I taught directionals I used what he used which was right (right turn) & back (left turn).  When the next dog came along I just used left & right.  Keep it simple & use words that come naturally to you, just make sure they don't sound too much alike, like "go" & "no"

[quangle]

Thanks Sheena, I figure that is what I am going to do as we already have a couple of cues based on what comes automatically out of my mouth. But by understanding the different SG cues, it will help me know the kind of turns/actions/whatever that I need to be thinking about and working on.  What I end up calling the will come later but as a beginner I'm not yet sure what different actions I should be working on at home.  

[Tassie]

I would hope that your instructors would help you with a list of the cures they would want you to use ….. eventually.  The SG programs are carefully built up in layers, and the dog and handler team learn the individual moves and cues one by one, so that there is less 'overwhelm'.      The important thing about cues and handling is to work out the safest and clearest path for the dog, and how you can 'steer' the dog round,   Clear information to the dog ahead of an obstacle means that the dog is able to prepare and execute the obstacle safely .. and in some cases, know where it will be going next, saving ugly changes  at the last minute.

 

If this link works, you will see verbal cues as well as physical cues being used to steer a Ferrari-type Border Collie.  By the way :jump" doesn't just mean, take the jump .. it means "take the jump and you will be doing the obstacle you're heading straight for after that".  The dog knows that it's a jump, but is being information about how to take the jump .. whether to get ready for a turn before taking off ...etc.