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Monday, July 26, 2010

Agility Commands, i.e. The Dog's Vocabulary

Sheryl was saying there are so many agility commands to remember, and it seems a great hurdle to remember them when they come at you piecemeal, so I decided to make a list and see how many there actually are.  Turns out, only about 35 or 40, and some of these are regular household words.  No big deal.  Here they are:
Obstacle Names:
  1. Jump, Hup, or Over
  2. Tire, Ring or Hoop
  3. See Saw, or Teeter
  4. A-frame, Scramble, or Up
  5. Dog Walk, Walk It, or Up
  6. Table, Bench, or Pause
  7. Weave, or Go Weave
  8. Tunnel, or Tube
  9. Chute
Directional Commands:
  1. Out, or Go Out
  2. Here
  3. Come
  4. Left
  5. Right
  6. Up (as, get on the chair) 
Action Commands:
  1. Get It
  2. Touch, or Target
  3. Fetch
  4. Bring It To Me
  5. Off
  6. Free
  7. Attention, Pay Attention
Positional Commands:
  1. Line Up
  2. Sit
  3. Down
  4. Stand
  5. Stay
  6. Wait
  7. Halt, Spot, Stop
Corrections:
  1. Uh oh
  2. No
  3. Hush, or Shush
Household Commands used everywhere:
  1. Quit It
  2. Do Your Business
  3. Leave It
  4. Crate Up
  5. Outside

Where there are 2 or more choices, you pick the one you want to use and stick with it.  Some people say the fewer syllables the better, and the fewer words that start with the same sound the better.  So in naming your obstacles, if you pick Tire, you wouldn't also pick Tetter and Table.

Also, some don't care for Left and Right commands in Agility because if the dog is approaching you, their left is your right, etc.  It gets confusing in a fast paced competition.  Better to always use Out and Here if you want them to approach you or move away from you.  This is probably different in Obedience, where the dog is always in heel position to your left.  Not so many moving parts.

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