Circle Work

The goal of circle work is to create value for the dog in being at your side, a.k.a. in the "reinforcement zone." derrett greg derrett laura derrett greg derrett greg derrettderrett greg derrett laura derrett laura derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett laura derrett greg derrett greg derrettderrett greg derrett laura derrett greg derrett greg
Bungee & I doing some circle work this past winter, "Florida vacation style!" :-)


The first 3 pictures show desired position of dog, next 3 show dog being rewarded in correct position. Note the even ratio of 3 pictures working to 3 pictures rewarding(!!) Reward often is the point. Please note: the dog was rewarded frequently throughout the entire circle. But photos with the dog being rewarded on the far side of me, away from the camera would not make good examples for you to see dog or delivery of reward clearly. Looking at these, the work would seem lopsided with the dog only getting rewarded on one side of the circle. I assure you this was not the case. Double click on any photo to enlarge for greater detail.
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Circle Work Explained
Greg teaches that he is looking for the dog to run at our side, neither forging, lagging or bouncing, nor pushing your line, nor shaping the size of your circle for you. The dog is never crossing in front (flanking a.k.a. "father flicking"), crossing behind (blind crossing), spinning away, or turning away from you (flicking). The dog is able to stay in position at your side, with acceleration and deceleration. The handler being particularly careful in deceleration that the dog does not swing wide & away from you as it slows (flanking), or moves ahead of you landing facing you, (major flanking), but instead remains at your side keeping the body aligned forward in the same direction as you are running. Run good, large circles with the dog on outside and dog on inside, in both directions and changing paces.
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Equipment needed: Flat collar (ONLY! NO Corrections!!), 6 ft. or approx. 1.8 m. leash, small bite-sized food rewards to start, tug toy(s) to advance
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Start: circle work at a walk with dog on leash with small bites of food ready for rewards. (Tie leash around your waist if food delivery is a problem, food rewards best at this stage). Find an object to circle such as a barrel on it's end, or the chute, set up on end. As you walk in a circle with the dog on the outside, feed the dog for being in position but do not lure the dog with the food. Work in both directions so dog works on both sides.
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Note: As you work, keep the dog on the outside, this allows the dog to correct itself from flanking. If the dog is on the inside the barrel prohibits the dog from flanking and that is a lesson the dog has then missed.
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Break it off and play frequently. Little tug games are perfect stress breaks! Don't worry about an awkward or rough start. The dog will soon catch on to what you are doing. Make sure your rate of reinforcement is very high at this stage. Susan calls this stage: "shadow handling".
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Advance your circle work: When the dog can circle with you and stay in position (still on leash) advance to a trot and then running circles as described above and start carrying a tug toy as a reward. Once you can run with the dog you no longer need to circle a fixed object. A big open lawn or field is ideal. Again, do not lure the dog, but give the toy as a reward for correct position - often! Lots of reinforcement! Let me repeat myself: lots of reinforcement!!! Carry the toy on both sides, next to the dog and away from the dog. Work through the dog trying to take the toy before it is given as a reward.

"What is reinforced is repeated." Bob Bailey
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The key to success in circle work is good reinforcement, that means rewarding the dog frequently for being where you want them to be. Bailey Basics dictate: "what is reinforced is repeated. "IMO if you only learn one thing about dog training, that is the best one to learn! In circle work, we are reinforcing for position and I pay my dogs very well!

Important tip #1: Be mindful about where your dog is when going to & from circle work sessions. (If you're serious about Greg's system, this is a valuable habit to make all the time). Keep the dog on one side and reward for staying there. Do not let the dog cross your path, flank you, flick away, spin or blind cross you when you transport it. This is never motion you want to see your dog doing on course, so don't allow rehearsals of it when you're not on course. If you allow such random behavior, you are undoing the good work you do in the circle work itself, and one of the main elements of Greg's system is "consistency"

Important tip #2: Do your circle work away from equipment, pretty much forever.

Important tip #3: Have FUN with your dog with this! This is playtime for Bungee & I; just always careful to maintain criteria of what we're doing.

OK, that's all there is to it. Simple as pie, but expect good results. I didn't plan on writing this much about circle work. But I also didn't want to give anyone just enough information to be dangerous, or start trying to do circle work from an intermediate level, which I quickly realized was possible from the email questions I received after the brief information I first posted.
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You can see Greg demonstrate Circle Work in his first video/DVD: Agility Foundation Training. (click on the link to check it out).

At some point much later on, as you advance and get closer to small sequences on jump equipment, you may want to start mixing in some straight-line exercises to proof acceleration/deceleration such as a two-toy game and some Focus Forward work (FFW) such as with the One Jump exercises from Susan's DVD. (click on the link to go to the Agility Success with One Jump site). You can also introduce Front Crosses in your Circle Work, Two-Toy Game and One Jump exercises. One Jump exercises actually allow the opportunity to teach 17 different agility moves - brilliant information too.

So, on behalf of the dogs, who deserve a fair approach to training here you have it as my small gift to them. Our dogs, hearts of gold you know! They deserve the best we can give them. From this point forward you will need to find an instructor and/or get yourself Greg's videos to continue learning his system. (click on the link to go to Greg's site.) IMO they are EXTREMELY worthwhile if you're following his system. You really do get your money's worth, and a lot to work on.

The agility schools in Ontario that I can recommend to you to best learn Greg's system are: Say Yes Dog Training Center, Inc. with Susan Garrett and Tamsu Learning Centerwith Sarah Mairs-Heaslip who also teaches Greg's system exclusively. (click on either link to visit the websites for those schools) greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg
Almost forgot! Should tell you when to do this with your dogs and for how long! Short answer - before they ever see equipment! Ideally you are starting your pups at the shadow handling stages and working your young dogs in circle work once or twice a week, for the full year before they EVER see equipment(!) as in multiple jumps, sequences, etc. This is OK because young dogs aren't really jumping or weaving before their growth plates are closed anyway. If you are one of Greg's own students, he tells that you are doing circle about a year before any of his student's dogs are proficient enough to pass his test that enables them to move up to working on sequences. greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrettderrett greg derrett laura derrett laura derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett laura derrett greg derrett greg derrettderrett greg derrett laura derrett laura derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett laura derrett greg derrett greg derrettderrett greg derrett laura derrett laura derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett greg derrett laura derrett greg