Why do a lot of people use the commands 'back' and 'right' instead of 'left' and 'right'? Isn't it more confusing for the dog??

it doesnt matter what you use for left, right, back etc. as long as your dog knows the meaning of the command and you are consistent, you can use any word you like.

I always use the word back instead of left for turns in heelwork.  My dog tucks his back end round  as he moves for a tight turn.  As already said you can say whatever you want.  Back is short and easy :)

Often people who also do obedience will use back instead of left but as people have already said it doesn't matter at all as long as you are consistent. You could use peanut for left and leprechaun for right as long as you used them all the time :D

>You could use peanut for left and leprechaun for right as long as you used them all the time

I once saw a dog trained to obey the instructions "Cabbage", "Banana" and "Plum" for Sit, Down, and Stay, just to prove that dogs don't automatically understand the meaning of the sounds we make - they need to be taught them. Dogs of course can be trained in any language, or even none at all. As you say, it's consistency that matters. :)

I'm sorry to break this to you but dogs don't understand English! :-D

They have to be taught to recognise words and most dogs understand body language more easily, the dog won't be confused at all as long as the handler is consistent.

I've heard someone use red and blue for left and right.

Goodness I get confused with right and left as it is never mind calling them something else

>I've heard someone use red and blue for left and right.

Green and red would make more sense ....... to a tar anyway ;)

Why do you think it would be confusing for the dog?

Would it be less confusing to use words no-one else uses?  I must admit I don't know the layout of agility shows but if rings were close together with dogs running at the same time a dog is more likely to be confused if it catches a comand from another ring then using "back" for "left"

Same as wait and stay

Stand and up

They are just common words used with dogs that have the same meaning :)

I can't use Left and Right as they mean something to me. And I can't tell my left from right without thinking. if that makes sense. so i use out and away for left and right. Some how I don't have to think of those and know which one is left and which is right straight away

Does that mean when someone's givng you directions to get somewhere they are better using out and away rather then left and right? :D

Maybe :). I had to ask my driving tester to use a hand signal and direction in my test :D
They can either use out and away or I understand heel and close for left and right because somehow I know which is left for dog heel work (hense heel for left) and close for right lol.
I know i am a bit wierd

A couple I know when they are in the car the husband say your side or my side for left and right as she gets in a terrible muddle.

I have only ever entered three obedience classes at exemption shows,a nd got in a mess as I couldn't remember right from left.

Now in general life when walking my dogs on lead I use left and close.  When I am turning against them to the left or want them to come with me to the right.  So if I were training I would probably use left for left and close for right. 

My husband's not great at left and right, and so when navigating I have to tell him 'this side' or 'that side'. :rolleyes:

i know a lady that uses port and starboard when turning in agility,
some people just use this this this when turning one way
it is up to the individual,
my friend does not know her left and right so she has always said right to her dog when meaning left,
her dad wondered why when he took the dog into the ring that it went in the oposite direction when he commanded right and meant right the dog went left, when he came out the ring and said i don't know why she did that , know one knew until we heard her at training and then it all fell into place.
my dogs are taught in german and this has proved a problem for my trainer on many an occasion if she has tried to run my dogs or to get them to realease a toy , or lie down or wait etc, until she learnt my commands,
so just use what you feel comfortable with and have fun
carolann

When training in obedience which is obvisly different i use Close for left  & right turns!! well actually for Everything! i USED to use back & in on my first dogs but have found close for EVERTHING works better.

Before Crufts i had to yeach Flynn a directed Retrieve, where he had to chose to pick up a chosen dumbell, & i used Left Middle or right for thar, but i think the "setup" different for each one was whay taught him not the command!

>i use Close for left  & right turns

But how does the dog know which way to go when giving the commands remotely - ie from the end of the room/barn etc etc ??? :D :D :D

Daisy

sorry its for obedience turns so the dog would be "with me " & read my foorwork (hopefully)

I don't know why we have to give verbal commands to the dogs because I can't get them right but trainers insist I shout out the directional, commands. I just have to hope  my dogs ignore what I say!  :rolleyes:

I have ti work out what is my left or right then translate it to the dog and the way I want the dog to turn and by then it is way too late.The odd time I feel confident I know what way it is I yell out left and the dog somehow correctly turns right. And that is in training class so in a competition no way could I get it right!

Agility seems to freely undermine the use of words they seem to be used to give a gist rather than exact meaning... in obedience words are precise. I do worry about this confusion of meaning.  I get told to use words I don't not to use because I don't want to devalue them. In obedience I don't use words unless I know the dog will obey..in agility they tell me to use words even if I know the dog won't obey and I don't get how that ties in with how dogs learn?

For agility think I need a special school for slow learners!

'school for slow learners'  - I know what you mean :-)  We are told to give verbal commands but we do have a choice what to say.  However it seems more important for the dog to see the movement of the body to know which direction to go in but if you have a very fast dog (I have) then it has to be trained to work away from you.  Sheep dogs are trained to move left and right by commands - whistle and word.  I have never worked out which command is which there either - one of them is 'come by'.  Do all shepherds use the same commands?

The shepherd I know uses "come by" to send the dog clockwise and "away to me" to send it anticlockwise. Those commands seem to be pretty general, although according to this fascinating site in other areas the commands mean the opposite!

If people have problems with telling left and right, why should using different words make any difference :D :D :D  Left and Right are only words - so using duck or grouse would still be just as confusing :D :D :D

Daisy

A good way for humans to distinguish between left and right is to put both hands up in front of you with palms facing away from you - as you would if you were getting someone to stop in front of you. Then drop your thumbs down so they are at right angles to your hands - the left hand with it's thumb makes a capital letter L - hey presto the  L = left :)

I can just imagine that in the agility ring!!!! :D

I can just imagine that in the agility ring!!!!

Might be wise to learn it beforehand :D :D :D

If you are right handed then you write with your right hand and you just need to think about picking up a pen.  If you're left handed please ignore this :D :D

hard when u are dislexic aswell so can't tell the difference lol

yep my dog is way way WAY too fast..the only verbal commands I really need for agility is 'COME BACK and SLOW DOWN!!!I've only got two legs!'   I just can't think at that speed let alone move. I had a year of trainig now and I don't think I'm any better then when I first started with that dog because he is too fast for me to know what to do. 

I'd really love an agiity training week with some trainer who is good with beginners with fast dogs to get us some foundations established so that I know how to do this agility with him. He is just too fast and too silly.

Is there a forum like this one for helping with learning agility? That might help.

My other dog though she is the same age but I am fine learning with her...so long as no one drops a hotdog sausage some place within a mile of the show ring I am confident that I can work her in agility decently wellish. ;)

Depends whether you want the dog to go slower - or you just need to get a faster trainer :D :D :D I'd just do one jump at a time, slowly and not let the dog run on to the next jump until you are ready :) Speed can come later when you are more in control :) :)

Daisy

Speed can come later when you are more in control
THanks.  I think that will be a long time later! lol!

One trainer did that just doing one or two things at a time she said she could see in his eyes when the over excited glaze came over his eyes and we did great with her. I started to feel more confident and less headless chicken! It's doing courses we can't actually do I struggle with and I seriously want to stay in baby class forever! One trainer said I can't do it because I tell myself I can't but I think it's because I can't actually do it. Not with that dog..because he is fast but also he simply is not under control. I just don't have the right knack with training him really.

Thanks... I will try the jumps one at a time cos I just bought a couple and see if eventually that calms him down .

Can't remember what dogs you have - is it Aussies or collies ???

I often just take Tara (Aussie) round at walking (mine) pace making her sit after each jump. It gives back control and just reminds her who is in charge :D :D She isn't too fast (unfortunately :D ) but gets very excited and barks :D :D

Daisy

Thanks Jeangenie - so come bye is not a left or right but a circular movement - I see.  Good info.
Tenaj you don't sound as if you are getting much encouragement from your trainer.  Mine keeps telling me that I can do it (don't really believe it when I am stood in the middle of the course wondering which way I should have gone while Meg runs on making it all up)  - and I am getting taught the way to handle a fast dog.   I can't slow down Meg - although now we are jumping full height it helps a little.

The left and right commands can be taught as a circular movement, alot of agility people teach it as a left or right "spin".  Personally I have to think about which is left and which is right too hard to be able to use it on a course.  Although when walking a course it does give you time to work out whether to tell the dog left or right at certain points.  Fagan doesnt work at distance yet so I just use this way (towards me) and out / back (away from me) I dont think he listens though, he just follows my body language.

i have a dog that has just learnt to work away from me in agility,it has taken him 4 years to get the confidence to move away from me and when he is jumping that he can go out in front and i don't have to belt along side him at every jump, but i have to admit that getting the right and left in at the correct time when he is ahead of me to make him turn if he cannot see my body movements have caused us no amount of fun and frustration, my other dog is so fast and prefers me to stand still than run after him, my trainer has put a lot of work in with me and him to make me understand , stand still or words to that effect when i have started to move towards him and he misses a jump or something simple, i can practically stand still and direct him around the course, and then move across to the end jumps, he is so fast i could not keep up with him, so i had to make sure that he knew left and right, and he was solid with them, so on walks, throwing the ball , he was given directions all the time, right , back, go on, etc, this is the only way i could run him, i have to admit i left one club as you where only allowed to train one way and one way only the trainers way, he had no idea how to train a dog that wanted to work away from you, he did not know how do this as his dog was a close worker to him, the trainer i have now showed me how to work my fast and not so accurate dog without actually being near him it is hard work but when it comes together WOW it looks good,

my daughter had a prob with her right and left and we got her in winter different coloured gloves to wear red for right and yellow for left then in the summer she wore wrist bands the same colour as the gloves and when she walked the courses before she competed she could work out the colours and commands in her head, red,right,lellow ,left and she is doing great at agility,
i know how hard it can be to train the way the trainer trainers but you are paying to be taught so ask your trainer if you can try your way just to see how your dog reacts, your trainer should be training you and if your dog reacts to movement rather than verbal that is what he/she should be teaching you,if your trainer says that the dog needs to hear your commands ask them what a deaf dog hears, as there are plenty of them that do agility and they watch the way the handler points,

The trainers tey to encourage me..but the dogs are just so wonderfully good at undermining their encouragement!

I am recover from my first show... my fast dog just became 10x faster then his normal fast self and smashed up the course... my other dog the first run one dog ended up at the burger bar,  the judge was nice she said don't let it put me off agility. Another comment was if you're going to go out go out with a bang! We didn't just knock poles off it felt like we knocked the whole lot over. I seriously worked so very very hard and I don't thin you could tell by watching us! lol! ...and other beginners were saying to me afterwards it was a shame because  their dogs blew the weaves or knocked a pole or two  ..blew the weaves! Was that all! I thought I was doing well keeping approximately to the course and still having a dog with me when I reached the finish! My boy did me proud..even though it was a total nuclear disaster I was very pleased with him. 

Mine keeps telling me that I can do it (don't really believe it when I am stood in the middle of the course wondering which way I should have gone while Meg runs on making it all up)
lol..I so now how you feel!

But such enthusiasm is great :) :)

Far better to have enthusiasm than boredom IMHO  :D

Loved the burger bar incident :D

you will get there in the end, Fagan was a total nightmare on his first show, he went over and said hello to the judge then went and greeted the photographer like he was a long lost friend :rolleyes:

But ive been working really hard with him, we have new special toys and have planted people around the course at training to get him used to it, and finally this weekend it worked - he went clear on his agility round :)

They do tend to go faster at shows, I couldnt believe it when at my first show Fagan just took off and I had to really run to keep up with im

But ive been working really hard with him, we have new special toys and have planted people around the course at training to get him used to it, and finally this weekend it worked - he went clear on his agility round 

oh wow! That so great!  WELL DONE!!!!!!

Hi

It might be worth visiting Agilitynet.com as they have a forum and also agilityeye.co.uk as you will find details of courses there.  I am the despare of my agility trainers as my comands consist of come, go, walk, the dogs name and various hand flicks.  Most of the time I find that this works fine for me but it is a lot more difficult when you have a really fast dog working miles away from you.  Dogs tend to be more reactive to hand signals and body movement than they are to actual voice commands.  A year is not a long time to be training for so I am sure that you will find your remote stearing in the future.  A weeks intensive agility course with a good trainer is well worth the money and they tend to be very social occasions at the same time.  Good luck

A week course would be wonderful!

Talk about social I bet they are... I am amazed how quickly you get to know so many people know in agility. I may well look into a course ..I've done a couple of local day courses and find the longer time much better. I think for a week course or even for a weekend I need to get much fitter!

Whereabouts in the country are you?

h

Leeds W Yorks.

where you at otley at the weekend,
i remember i had trained so hard for two years with my first dog, we went into the ring our first show, and he jumped the first fence and then went three rings in the oposite direction, did an A frame and two fences got the contacts on the A frame as well, and then came back to me, i was in tears, but people where so understanding and told me not to give up on him, i did not, we took him to show after show not competing, but we did obedience around the rings with him, so he understood, i was in control and where i went he came as well regardless of what was going on in other rings 14 months later, i entered the ring again, withpeople standing around the sides ready to yell at him to get back in there etc, we set off and after the 6 jump he was still with me, we came to a corner of a ring and he saw another dog moving he was just about to go when i really shouted at him to come hear now. he looked at the other dog and then came to me, that was the proudest moment in my agility for a long time, he used to bark all the way around the ring and believe me when a rottie barks everyone hears, he loved his agility so much , for about 5 shows after that i still had very good friends around the ring that would let rip at him if need be, but we never needed them,and i started to relax and enjoy my agility with him, he learnt me a lot and i can never forget the times we had together in the ring, they where fast , furious,noisy, but most of all fun, he lived life at 100mph and he did agility at that speed as well.
carolann

Hi...yes I was at Otley.  The people there were all so friendly  even though people all had so much to do they were all lovely and very supportive and understanding. My brain was too in overload and which I hadn't expected... when my runs were over I loved the show and watching the dogs! They each have their own charcter and different style...and so many different abilities. They should show more on TV.  I was so I'm glad I went and I did enjoy it once I recovered.  I don't think I would be all that interested in agility if it wasn't really challenging.  And thanks for the account that's great and is  helpful.

are you comming to waldridge fell show ?
carolann

No.. unfortunatey I'm away that weekend but I was told it was a good show to go to.