For more on running contacts, it's best to join running contacts class or get a Running Contacts DVD. This page is meant for those who just have a quick question or want to show their finished product - you are very welcome to do so, it still brings a smile to my face when I see a beautiful running contact, it's something addictive about it. It is on times frustrating as well... - but it all makes the end result even sweeter. So... Happy training, everybody!
 Silvia Trkman is known for bringing every dog, from her first dog on, to the very top of the sport. Her dogs are known for great speed, tight turns, running contacts and long and injury-free careers. Silvia is in agility since 1992 and is– 3x World Champion (with two different dogs)
– 5x European Open winner, with 4 different dogs (Lo, La, Bu, Le)!!!
– National Championships podium and World Team member with every dog she’s ever had – National Champion for 22-times (with 5 different dogs of 3 different breeds) – World Team member for 19-times (mostly with at least two dogs at the time – sometimes four 🙂 ) |
Silvia, I have a question regarding your RC class (which I hope to take in the future if I decide to go with RCs with my pup). What equipment do we need? and how often do we need access to a full sized dog walk? I’m just preparing myself, wondering if I need carpet, a plank, or anything else, and if I’m better off simply buying a complete dog walk. And ideally how much training is usually needed. Ex. is it best to work on it every day, or couple times a week?
Also, from what I understand you teach the RC on the dogwalk first, then the A-frame. What do you do about the teeter?
Thanks for the info.! My pup is 7 months old and all my other dogs do 2o2o, some more successfully than others….and I’m trying to decide if I should take the plunge into running contacts. Also, would it be worth it to retrain one of my dogs who no longer does a 2o2o in competition anyway, and teach her running contacts. Would I have to stop competing with her while I did the RC training?
I know…so many questions 🙂
Well, all my dogs up to Le were trained to full height on just a plank + a bench&long picnic table and then I transferred the behaviour to a full height DW that I saw twice a week… However, it takes some improvisation and makes a transfer to a real DW somewhat harder as if you have an option of a real DW. How long or not the process takes depends a lot on a dog… With Bi and her brilliant generalization skills, I could get to full height DW in 20 sessions for sure -- but I didn’t of course! With Bu, plank work went great, but she had problems with a real DW as she is such a fearful dog. With Le, my DW was always easy, but she had some problems with new DWs. With my dogs, I start pretty young, but only do a couple of sessions per week, but to keep up with the class, about 5 sessions per week are necessary -- but of course, we have many who can’t do so much and just take the class again or finish on their own.
And yes, I only teach a DW and A-frame is for free, meaning that you’ll get a running A-frame and all possible handling moves and turns and all on it in one session. I really like that part as I don’t like the steepness of the A-frame, so I start with it very late and never really train it (I never reward the A-frame other than maybe few times in the first session). For a teeter, you of course need a stop and is addressed in Foundation class, not RC.
I would certainly recommend you try the RC and see how you both like it and then decide if you want to continue or not -- it only costs you some play time with the dog and makes fast 2on2off even easier to get after some fun running planks -- if you decide for that at the end. You can also try it with dogs still trialing with 2on2off. Many people never stop competing, RC training doesn’t affect the 2on2off performance in trials, the only problematic time is usually when introducing RC to trials -- not always, but it can cause some misses at the beginning when the dog is not quite sure, so you definitely don’t want to introduce it when you really need a clean run -- but before or after 🙂
Excellent! That answers my questions :-). I think I’ll at least give it a try with Tat. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
There is certainly nothing to loose!
With all the controversy about RC lately I wanted to take the time to thank-you so much for all the info you have given to so many of us for FREE, that just isn’t something you see very often. I used your methods to train my Chico and love the results and he loves to do his RCs. Here is a sample of some of those beautiful RCs. A huge thanks from Chico and myself:)
Looks great!!! And Chico sure seems to love it, great job!
I have another question regarding teaching your running contacts on smaller equipment. I have lightweight dogs and a smallish yard so I try to use smaller equipment. Ex. my teeter is an 8′ plank instead of 12′ and my A-frame is teacup size (30” wide and 80 ” long). I’m thinking of getting a teacup dogwalk which has 8′ planks instead of 12′. Would this make running contacts difficult? Do you need the exact same size you see in competition for dogs to get their striding correctly? I do have access to full size equipment once a week, but most of my training is done in my backyard. So I guess my question is could I use a smaller dog walk and Aframe to teach running contacts, or should I make sure I have at least a 12′ plank?
Hm, I’m afraid 8′ won’t work for whippets… They will learn to fly the apex and land on a contact and then won’t be able to do it on real DW… You could have 8-8-12 -- I think that should work. But using all 8′ planks will give you so different behaviour that it will be very difficult to transfer it to a real DW. It should work with shorter strided dogs, but a whippet really can’t fit more as one hit on 8′ plank…
I wonder if this will be a problem with my Aframe then? It is smaller than a regulation Aframe but with 2o2o that’s not a problem. Each board is 30″ wide and 80″ long. Will I be able to use that for running contacts on the Aframe? For the DW I’ll just start with a 12ft plank then.
Well, you could use it flat for flat DW work! And after training for running DW, running A-frame comes for free, normally it only takes two or three sessions on an A-frame to have a great running AF too, so you don’t really need an AF at all. I never really do an A-frame otherwise as when included in course work, I don’t like repetitions on that angle anyway.
Will I be able to use my Aframe flattened out for DW work? Won’t the length be incorrect? It’s just under 7ft long, so when I flatten it it would be almost 14 ft long. Won’t that change the dog’s striding?
14 ft is perfectly o.k. for flat work -- better longer as shorter! They will eventually have 36′ anyway and 14′ will give you more striding options.
Hi Silvia,
I am wondering if I should sign up for your running contacts class. I have trained my BC to do running contacts, but he is not quite very consistent with them. He is now 3 and has been in the ring for about 1 1/2 years, we also attended your seminar when you were here in California a couple of years ago. He seems to want to collect and turn on the board (DW) if there is a turn coming. I have tried to teach turns, but can’t convince him to not turn on the board and miss the yellow. I obviously need help with this part. 🙂 I was having a hard time just getting him to go straight, I thought I would worry about turns later. I will put in 2 videos of him in the ring, (I hope ;)). He looks like he is extending one of the strides towards the end of the dogwalk, but not quite enough, or he should just make his strides more even because he is just barely making the contact, or missing it altogether. Can I teach turns with just a plank and a table, or is that explained in your online class? In the videos I have not taught him a turn away off the dogwalk, so it is a bit sloppy for that reason. Please excuse the rest of the runs, he was a bit wild and we hadn’t done agility in about 2 months. 🙂 THank you in advance for any help, and I will sign up for your class if you have one available.
Tammy
P.S. I did not get the aframe for free, he is about 4-6 inches short, but I am not worried about that, I can fix it. I just really want his dogwalk better! I love all your videos and your whole philosophy concerning your dogs.
To me, it looks like you didn’t get the A-frame for free because he doesn’t really understand DW either… He doesn’t seem to understand the importance of the end, so yes, I certainly see some holes in training that you could work on in the class… We also work on turns yes. At the moment, you can still join January RC class (it goes on till 7th May) -- the next one probably starts mid-May.
Thank you Silvia! I will join your class.
Tammy
Will you be having a RC in May for sure? I’m psyched and really want to join.
Yes, I think we can make it for sure now 🙂 We’ll just do some more breaks in between, when I’ll be away.
Awesome! Can’t wait, and lots of breaks is good to help me catch up!
Hey Silvia, when I read about your methode I don’t find anything about the upp contact. My dog is running a plank but when I go to a low dogwalk she starts to jump over the upp contact. Can you tell me what to do about that or where I can read something about that
?
Yes, my method is about down contacts 🙂 I don’t train up contacts, they normally get better on its own. For now, just use a stride regulator to have her hit the up and focus on down contacts instead and you’ll deal with up contacts when at full height if still necessary -- probably not.
thanks for your answer. I hope it will disappear in time. And I’ll try to fix it with a stride regulator.
Hi there Silvia.
i am so excited i have just this week found grounds where i have taken my equipment too, just 5 mins from where i drop my kids at school. I can go every morning and train before coming home. Wow it is so great to have space!!! 🙂 I have for the 1st time been able to set up tunnel 4 jumps tunnel, wow it is so cool!!! 🙂
Now i can get going with training entries and exits for RC too, but not sure how too? Up to now i have just used the tunnel after, straight on. Do i now add a jump then tunnel and slowly move it side ways? or just change it to only the jump? How and when do i give the command for what is coming up next or is it still just run, go go go? This is confusing me a bit, how will Spy know it is straight on or off, to the side or tight? Not sure i have explained myself correctly but hope i have. do i put a pole just at the end of the DW so Spy doesn,t try come off the side? I guess i must do tight only after working on the jumps and tunnel?
I am also very excited Spy can now do a free hand stand now after working her with less and less back support as you suggested. i will video it when Tricks starts again even though we are still a bit behind with the other tricks.
1 last thing for now, Have you ever considered writing a training guide manual? So it gives people an idea of what to train, when what and how, because sometimes i think, we must do all in 1 day but clearly that would be silly but how many times poles etc. there is so much to teach them and only so many hours in a day. Great
Congratulations on your new training place! You should join Handling now! 🙂 For different entries and exits, just use a jump and first angle it for 90 degrees and then move it to the side and closer yes. I use “go-go” for anything that doesn’t require collection on a DW as such and then say when they’re in the contact the obstacle name if it’s obvious obstacle or come/left/right if it’s not the obvious/straight ahead obstacle. For tight turns off the DW, I don’t say go-go, but left/right when they get to the top plank and that tells them to turn tightly off the DW. I don’t just put the pole there no, I teach it as a separate exercise as explained and shown in a video in lesson 5 of RC class -- see it there. It doesn’t really matter when you start with this exercise as it’s a completely separate exercise.You can review last few lessons of RC class, I think it’s discussed to more details there.
Yay for a handstand, can’t wait to see it!!! I’m eventually (in like 1+ years) making Agility Foundation DVD, but I’m in general not very good in giving exact training schedule, organizing was never my strongest point 🙂 With a young dog I normally work on two things per training, like weaves+RC or RC+sequences -- and I just pick whatever I feel like doing that day…
Hi there. I most definately am going to join up with handling but actually just trying to set up foundation exercises now that i have the ground and the space so i will work through that for a while and then i will most definately join up. Been watching Winnie,s videos and they are just so happy and cool to watch!!! 🙂 It has inspired me so much. I have also been trying to take Spy out on her own a lot and went to a show yesterday just to make it a happy place and did a few jumps and tunnels. I will keep trying this. She worked very nicely but still a bit to do to get her confidence up. But wow it is so cool to have our own place to train. 🙂
As far as RC goes, I have been trying to watch some of the old videos to learn more about the turns but can i ask for now do i have the correct understanding of it please? If i say/explain, 12 o,clock is a straight exit then do i move it a little towards 11 and 1 o,clock and then a little towards 10 and 2 o,clock and then finally up too 9 and 3 o,clock? working of course 1 side at a time, and i guess staying on that side too and pull as such or should/can it also be a push? The tight turns do separatly as you show in the video with the pole. Would it be ok to 1 day work on tight turns and the other the next? would i try work straight and left and right in 1 session or just straight and one side?
Thank you so much.
I would actually handle 9 and 3 with left/right already. You could maybe go to 10 and 2 -- depends on how long-strided they are. Just stop when you get in trouble and then handle that with left/right instead. You can work on both left&right in the same session and straight/curve the next day for now and then mix it up, start with turns and finish with some straight exits. I first mostly pull off the DW but will sometimes also push then, but I master the push on other obstacles first so they understand it off the DW well too.
Hi Silvia!
Update on Spur’s turns. You were right, I can handle these just fine. 😀 I even think as he gets faster I can still be there as I can run pretty fast. As you can see I am only jogging in this video, so if he were running faster I am sure I could still get there. I surprise myself how fast I am sometimes, LOL!! I probably need to stop taking such big strides myself, so I look faster as that might make him faster? Anyway, I was pretty pleased with his turn off this DW. It doesn’t get much tighter than that. We have only trained that like twice before, but he got the idea without any trouble! 😀
Unfortunately, he was scared of the teeter on that course and I think it affected his next run, which was jumpers with weaves and he qualified, but he was 36+ seconds. 🙁
The teeter is the same one we have had there for years, but recently they made a weight system for the base that added nearly 300lbs to the base. So, it DOES NOT move even for a 200lbs Mastiff, LOL!! The plank is the very same and the tipping point has not been changed, but obviously all that weight on the base makes it feel different and affects Spur. I don’t have any other reason why his jumpers course was so slow. I could tell he was worried right away as we started and once we got about half way around the course he did speed up and my guess is he realised there would not be that scary teeter.
At home I adjust the weight on my teeter, add noisy things to it, we play teeter games, he will RUN to his teeter at home from 100 feet away, I do all those things on friend’s teeters, but I don’t know any where else that has a 300lb weight system for the base near me. Anyway, I think he will eventually be OK with it, but it sure did affect his performance. I look forward to AF class and working on some other things for him to help him. He gets so easily frightened.
Definitely a really nice turn! I think you’re so much faster as him because of this flooring, it offers good grip for handlers, but not a perfect grip for dogs. In general, I’m faster on artificial flooring in comparison to the grass and on this flooring in particular (we don’t see it in Europe, but I ran on it in US). So yes, you could try smaller steps. Too bad the teeter scared him again, not sure how the base could affect that? Any option you could rent it once to play some on a teeter?
Yeah, it seems odd the added weight affects them so much, but the first trial a couple weeks ago that dogs saw/felt it many, not just Spur, had worries. It is the very same teeter they have had there for several years and we trial there at least once/month. I think it tells us that teeters move more than we think? Although, it’s strange because MY teeter is frozen to the ground right now so it doesn’t move at all, either, but that’s his home teeter and he’s pretty comfortable on that no matter what I do to it. It’s a two hour drive there, so I don’t know if I can get there to do some training on it, but on occasion they do have matches or classes I might be able to go to. I am just thinking I need to keep working on different things with him. Just started the drawer slamming trick for AF, since we haven’t done much of that lately.
Teeters always worry him. I don’t think he will ever forget his tail crunch, but at least he still does them and with more experience and confidence I know he’ll be fine. He’s come so far already! 😀
Well, as for the flooring, I am sure that’s true and he sure was trying hard on this run, good little guy. Even outdoors, I am pretty much faster as him and almost always ahead of him. We don’t do much on dirt, unfortunately because that sure is the nicest and don’t do much on turf since there isn’t much of it around here.
Yes, more experience with different objects and teeters definitely helps! It’s still surprising why a non-moving teeter would be more scary as a moving one? I know mine moves a lot as I need to move it back all the time, but the dogs don’t like it too much, I will definitely be getting a different teeter next time.
I think it is that they knew what it felt like before and it was familiar and then it felt different and it took them by surprise. Most dogs did fine and it didn’t bother much them after that first time. I try to make my teeter as scary sounding and feeling as one could be, changing the height, adding/removing weights, adding old license plates to the bottom so it rattles as it recoil because that part scares him a lot, too. I can’t really surprise him much at home, though, as I think he is always expecting it to be different? Although, sometimes it does scare him, still. He will never love the teeter, that’s for sure.
About his DW’s…….I have never timed them before. I just went through some of his videos and he consistently does a 2 second DW at home and at practice. At trials is it closer to 2.5 seconds. Yet, his striding is very often the same. That 2, 3, 3 hit pattern.
Yes, Bu also has the same 5-stride pattern every time and yet her times vary a lot…
I didn’t realize they had done something to change the teeter but that might explain my seasoned 10 year old dog’s fly-off today!!! He never does fly-offs and we compete here all the time. I was shocked (and so was he!!!) to see him fly off the teeter this morning!. Ruined our Double Q 🙁
Hi Silvia! I figured I would post this now before all your new classes start and you have SO much to review. I thought you would enjoy seeing Spur’s running into nothing. We haven’t trained it in months and my yard just tried up so I thought I would see how it was holding up. We only did a few reps, but he was 100%!! It has been totally fine at trials, but we have only seen it a couple of times. I also think it’s cute how excited he was to be training his DW again and just takes off to wrap that jump all by himself!! 😀 His DW sure has helped him become more confident!!!
Wow, those were sure beautiful!!! And he just seems faster&faster!
Hi Silvia 🙂
Just wanted to post my latest run of Liryk, and to just say THANKYOU sooooo much for all your help, I’m feeling alot more confident going into the ring these days, and I’m so proud of how far we’ve come. We had a high hit on the d/w but so stunned she got it as she was running into nothing 😀
Thanks again!!!
Megan and Liryk
GREAT job!!! Thanks for an update, always fun to see Liryk!
WOW!! Megan, Liryk looks awesome!!!
Hi Silvia,
I am training my border collie Fame on your running contacts and I really love doing them. We are now on a full high DW and she has beautiful hits if I put a straight tunnel at the end and throw the ball very early (as soon as she is on the straight piece of the DW). Yesterday I tried to put a jump at the end of the DW and either she jumped of or had really high hits (I didn´t throw the ball as early as usual) What would you recommand me? Practise more often with just a jump and throw the ball earlier, or first continue with a tunnel and start throwing the ball later and later with maybe a jump after the tunnel? We also have a bit of a problem with her hits, if we for excample run towards a fence, which is quite near. Her contacts aren´t as nice as normal because I of course can´t throw the ball ahead, because otherwise it is over the fence 😉
When would you suggest me to start with the turns? As soon as Fame is able to hit the contacts every time, no matter if the next obstical is a tunnel or a jump and I can throw the ball, as soon as she is of the DW? Would you start practising the turns with a tunnel put a bit beside her normal line after the DW?
In the first part of the video, you can see her hits if I put a tunnel behind the DW and throw the ball earlier (sorry for the bad quality)
Thanks in advance for your help.
Greatings from Germany
Simone
Looks good! Definitely a time to fade a tunnel/ball yes, did you try to set DW-jump-tunnel? Would that work? If yes, you can do that for now, then two jumps before a tunnel, then move the tunnel some etc. If the tunnel after a jump doesn’t work, try a static toy after a jump. Or always being in front for now -- different things work for different dogs.
I only teach curves by moving a jump some and for that, I would wait until you can use a jump and throw after it. You could start collection turns though as it’s completely separate exercise, with just a down ramp/plank and a pole for her to help her go all the way down.
Nice cik&caps too! 🙂
Hi Silvia,
thank you very much for your fast feedback. And no, I haven´t tried yet, to do DW-jump-tunnel, but I will definitely do. What also could work good for Fame is me beeing infront of her for a while…..I will try all ideas you named and will let you know and than start putting the tunnel more and more back.
Parallel I will start the training for the curves after a plank. Do you use left and right as a word and when do you say it? As soon as your dogs are on the DW or is in the middle early enough for them to react?
I will keep you posted on our success (?) 😉
Yes, I use left&right and for 5-strided dogs as yours say it about in the middle -- sooner only for Bi.
Hi Silvia,
I have tried to set a jump after the DW and behind the jump the tunnel -- but it didn´t work much better. Her hits are really high, even I only have the jumps on 45 cm. During the training I put the bars away and only let Fame run through the jump into the tunnel and than her hits got nice again. At the end of the video I put the bars on mini hight and she didn´t have that nice contacts again.
Would you recommand me to now try the toy after the jump or continue with practising DW-jump-tunnel with maybe a lower dw? When using the toy after the jump should I put the jump maybe 8 meters behind the dw or nearer (maybe 4 meters)?
Thanks Simone
You can try a toy after and see what works better and go with that. Don’t set the jump too close (4m is too close -- something like 6, 7m is better!). If you decide to continue with jump-tunnel, put the bars on the floor first, then on 10cm, 15cm etc.
Hi Silvia,
the day after I took the video above I realised, that I did a mistake before. I didn´t do DW-jump-tunnel, but tunnel-DW-jump-tunnel. So after I realised, I really did DW-jump-tunnel and startet right before the DW and put the jump very low without a tunnel behind -- and it worked much much better. So I will continue with that version and than lift the bars very gradually and have more distance between Fame and the DW. I think with that version we will manage to get good hits with a jump after the DW…….
Thanks for your help.
Simone