|
|
|
"What is a Stepline, and how do I use it?" (New! 3/8/04) A step line consists of a rope, (like a cotton or nylon laundry line), about 30 feet long. At one end is a heavy brass clip that attaches to the dog's collar. The hook or clip should be a heavy metal clip, like you find on a very big dog's leash. Keep in mind that you want a heavy one, the reason for that will be made obvious by the end of this lesson... :-) The other end is attached to a wooden handle or dowel, about 8 inches long and about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. This handle serves two purposes: When you step on the line, if the line continues to slide along under your shoe it'll stop when the dowel hits your foot and you won't loose the dog and the line off over the horizon. <grin> It also gives you a place to safely grab the line. Anyone that has gotten rope burn by trying to grab a piece of fast moving rope will understand. :-( It's much safer to grab the wooden 'handle' than trying to grab the rope as it's whizzing past you while the dog is running. If the puppy is less than 50 lbs. then the line can be lighter weight If the dog is over 50 lbs, then you need a thicker rope. The idea is, not too much weight for the dog to drag, but strong enough to hold him if he decides to bolt. Now, the part that gets hard to describe... With the dog standing at your left side, clip the stepline to the dog's collar and toss the line across in front of you to your right and make sure that it's not tangled or running between your dog's legs. Tell your dog to HEEL while you slap your left thigh, and start walking. As you know, it won't be long before the dog is going to get ahead of you, so rather than walking faster and trying to catch up with the dog, let him go! The stepline will be dragging behind the dog and as he gets a few yards ahead of you, you whirl around and step on the end of the stepline a few feet in front of the wooden dowel. Try to step on the line with both feet to avoid having it slip out from under your foot, and please make sure you're wearing shoes! Then reach down and grab hold of the wooden handle. Now that you've got the wooden handle in both your hands, hold it close to your bellybutton in both hands. You're still facing your runaway dog and the dog is now approaching the point were the line is going to be taut. (Before you get to the next step, please make sure the line is not between or tangled around your dog's legs. You don't want to get him tangled, and hurt him). Now, you yell "Hunter, HERE!" and you pivot and take a few steps away from your dog, using your body weight to bring the line taught. The idea is for the dog reaches the end of the line and to be brought up short with a bit of a jerk, and depending on how fast he's going, he may even be swung around by his own momentum. This, in conjunction with your yell will probably get him started back towards you, in which case you will start praising and encouraging him like crazy! But, if he doesn't come towards you, start reeling him in with the stepline. As soon as he starts coming towards you on his own, make sure you give him lots of praise again. You want him to learn that coming back to you is a great thing! If your dog started coming back to you when you called, pivot and start walking in the opposite direction. As you pivot and bring the dog back around to your direction, keep moving away from the dog and walk in the opposite direction, all the while encouraging the dog to catch up and keep following you. The dog will usually see you walking away and come running back up to you. Use the command "HERE" to bring him on close to you, then when he's within 3 feet or so, call him to "HEEL". Then as you're still walking and the dog is coming back into position at your left side, toss the wooden dowel off to your right, step over the line and go right back into the same procedure explained above... If the dog decides to leave you again and goes off in front or veers off to the side, you have to turn and go to the end of the stepline, step on the line and grab the dowel and prepare to correct again... over and over until the dog 'gets it' and realizes that the place to be is with you. :-) We tried this at Homecoming, using another person at the end of the line, playing the dog part. Then, we tried pivoting, versus just pulling or yanking on the line. Pivoting puts a lot more force into swinging the dog, as you're putting all your body weight into it. With pulling, you're just using the strength of your arms so it won't be as effective because the 30 foot long rope acts almost like a bungee cord and springs rather than giving a good correction. You may want to practice with another person playing the dog role, until you're comfortable doing this. Of course, the smaller the puppy, the less hard you're going to pivot! We then tried it with the dogs and by the second time most of the dogs were turning around and coming back to us! We didn't even have to yell HERE, because the dogs had started watching us! So, of course, lots of praise when the dogs come back to you! It doesn't take these dogs long to learn! While you're doing this whole exercise, keep reminding yourself to do it at your own speed. Many dogs will start off at heel, then start walking faster and moving out in front of the handler. The handler often walks faster and tries to catch up to the dog. Don't do that! Turn, grab the dowel, correct and move off in a different direction. Don't let the dog set the pace. ;-) Hope I didn't make this sound too confusing! Feel free to ask more questions, if I did! And now for the reason for using the heavy metal snap/hook... In the beginning of this exercise you start out with the 30 foot line and over the course of days or weeks, your dog will begin to reliably walk with you when you give him the heel or here commands. At that point the line is just dragging behind as sort of an emergency brake in case the dog looses his head and decides to go after a cat. You can get a hold of him and bring him back into position as explained above. Eventually, you'll start using a shorter rope - maybe take 5 feet off the end and work with him with the 25 foot long rope. He'll feel the rope and assume that it is the same as in the beginning. Then after a few more days/weeks take another five feet off. Then another five feet... until eventually you'll only have 5 feet of line left attached to the hook. It's just enough that the dog feels it on his legs as he's walking, but he THINKS that you've still got all that control that you had with the 30 foot line that you've corrected him with so many times before. Eventually you'll just have the heavy metal hook, with just a short tail of rope attached to his collar. He'll feel the weight of the hook, and think that the 'invisible lead' is still on him. :-) Some last reminders: Don't use the stepline as a leash! You should never have the line in your hands except when you've grabbed it to give the dog the correction, then once the dog is back in tune with you and walking with you, toss the dowel off to the right, step over the line and keep going without the line in your hands. That's one of the keys to the whole exercise. The stepline is NOT a leash. You don't hold it in your hands as you walk, you don't keep tension on it and allow the dog to pull you along. It just drags behind the dog wherever he walks, and you use it only as an emergency brake to bring the dog back into position at your side. Then you drop it and walk along and don't touch it until the next time you have to correct him and bring him back into position again. Most people mess this part up. They keep grabbing the line and trying to steer their dog with it, like they might try and do with a long leash. Resist the temptation to hold onto it! Also... Make sure that the rope never tangles in the dogs legs. The line should run from the dogs collar, down his right flank and straight back between you and the dog on the ground to drag behind. If the rope encircles the dogs legs, or runs between the dogs legs - stop - untangle, reposition the rope and continue on. Grabbing the line and correcting when the dog is tangled or with the rope between the dogs legs could hurt the dog. So constantly watch the line and make sure it stays in the right position.
- Debbie Knatz and
Olga Twombly
|
|
PLEASE NOTE:
|