Fluid Motion Command Series – Tight

Posted byAmanda NelsonPosted inAgility Training
Fluid Motion Command Series – Tight
I will be writing a series of articles giving an overview on how I teach my directional commands. In the first of the series I will be discussing how I teach Tight.
Tight for my dogs means for them to turn as tight as they can toward me, where as a Here for my dog means come toward me, like the inside obstacle for a discrimination. The diagram below shows an example of the difference between a Tight and a Here for my
dogs.
Tight and Here
When I begin teaching a Tight I want the dogs to learn to tight as they can toward me, I also want them to learn to bend their spine, I begin with one hoop, I send them through the hoop and ask them to turn as tight as they can back towards me while bending their spine around the hoop. I then quickly progress to using two hoops, sending the dog through one hoop and then asking them to Tight back towards me through the second hoop.
Each dog will progress through the lessons at their own pace, when I feel the dog is ready to move on I will start to move the hoops further apart.
Before I progress to the next step I make sure my dog is performing the current step from varying handling positions, sides and distances.
The video below shows an example of introducing a Tight with one hoop.
Tight with two hoops
Adding Tight to a Jump
I will use a Tight in many different situations, but the core of the command is that the dog will turn tightly and I will then direct them to the next obstacle.
The diagram below shows a few different examples of where I may use a Tight.
Tight Examples
Tight Examples

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Published by Amanda Nelson

Amanda Nelson is well known for her distance handling skills, and she has been traveling the country and teaching seminars for 20+ years. She has traveled around the world to Australia, Japan, Netherlands, England, Switzerland and the Philippines teaching all levels of agility, with nearly all dog breeds. Amanda focuses on teaching teamwork as well as how to create a strong connection between dog and handler. She works with all styles of handling, from running with your dog to distance handling. Amanda tailors each training session, large or small, to the dog and handler to help bring out the best in the team. Her training techniques consist of a large amounts of targeting, food rewards, and toy rewards. Creating a fun learning environment for the dog encourages a fast, fun, and motivated dog in the agility ring. Amanda uses a combination of Upper Body Cues, Lower Body Cues, and Verbal Cues. This system was derived from the natural cues that most dogs read and pick up quickly. Handlers are taught how to use all of these cues, together, to create a customized handling system that can be tailored to their unique dog. All of these techniques have resulted in Amanda earning numerous titles with her dogs including the MOD SQUAD award, Purple Achievement Cup, and over 40 NADAC Championship titles. She has won the NADAC Championships multiple times, including winning the Super Stakes and Starter Stakes division. She has also been Top Bonus Dog, Top Purple Dog, and Top Dog of the Year several times in NADAC.

3 thoughts on “Fluid Motion Command Series – Tight”

  1. In your second diagram, the top example, I cannot see what the numbers are in the black circles. Can you explain which order the numbers go?

    thanks

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  2. You have enlightened me once again, Amanda ! I have used “tight” with the boys forever. I added “wrap” for those occasions when I needed to wrap a hoop “tightly” back onto a contact,etc. This picture re-enforced to my wee,little brain that I must continue to train the difference between my commands ! Apparently, my “wrap” is a tight change of direction – instantly…. your bottom example with the wrap back to the hoop. My “tight” is a command for a quick turn …… used for the weave scenario. The tunnel example would use my tight command, but, I may also pop out a “round” command – which tells the boys NOT to take the “upper”/top obstacle . Thinking about it, the “tight” would probably encourage them to give me a “TIGHTER” turn. OK, sorry for the novel, back to my happy,shiny place !

    Bernie

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