Figure 16. Step 1 — movement gesture, starting position. 



"Chow" will be followed by goal food, its handler 

 can gradually increase the interval between 

 "Chow" and receipt of goal food a few feet 

 each day. This will be useful when working 

 long lanes, as the dogs will run to their pans 

 on "Chow" and wait for their goal food. 



I. Timeout. A dog is "timed out" when it will 

 not work, when it misbehaves or malperforms, 

 whether through ignorance or deliberately. A 

 common reason is lack of motivation for food. 

 Instructors must insure that the handlers don't 

 cause timeouts by expecting too much of their 



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Figure 17. Step 2 — movement gesture, completed. 



dogs or trying to advance them too quickly. 

 This only confuses the dog; if it is confused 

 or timed out too many times in succession, it 

 may refuse to work at all. If a handler's dog is 

 confused, he should reestablish its. confidence by 

 backing off to an earlier step of training that the 

 dog can perform successfully. Once he has de- 

 cided to time his dog out, the handler must be 

 sure that he gives the signal at the moment 

 his dog is doing something wrong. A low, stern 

 NO is a good signal for this purpose. After 

 giving the signal, the handler immediately puts 

 his dog on-leash, keeps it at close heel (fig 18), 

 and takes it to an area away from other dogs 

 and from its usual stakeout. After locating a 

 suitable tree or post, the handler will tie his 

 dog so that it cannot run around or lay down. 



22 



