Impulse Control

Impulse Control while training your start line.

It is essential to teach your dog, or puppy, to control themselves. We call this “Impulse Control.” I stress teaching this no matter if you want to do sports or not. As you can see in the video, I start this in my home, where it is safe. By teaching them to wait in their crates until I release them, I control when they leave. This also builds anticipation that can be used for a quicker start at the start line.

You can also see that this training has real-world applications at the end of the video, even if you don’t compete. Imagine getting your dog out of the car, whether in a crate or loose. Without impulse control, the dog will bolt out of the vehicle to be with you. This can lead to heartbreak. If you open the door to get a package at your front door, if you don’t have reasonable impulse control on your dog, they can dart out and get lost.

So how can we train this behavior? The first thing I will say is to be consistent. If you are not consistent in training, the dog will be confused, and you will not get the results you want.

Take a look at my “Advanced Crate Training” lesson, and you will see the basics of starting this behavior.

So how does this relate to the start line for Agility? You want your dog to leave the start line with a “blast” of energy and speed. Getting them used to “exploding” with energy when you release them translates into muscle memory for them. As you see in the video, they all headed straight towards me when I released them, then began to run to the dog door since that is what they know to do when leaving the house crate. When leaving the car crate, they come straight to me, which they have been taught to do. On the start line, they know when I say “Go,” that means take off to me, then I can direct them as they come to me. Now I have speed and control of the team.