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Lead Leg - How Do The Dogs

Turn? '

Leading OneMind Dogs Coach Janita Leinonen wrote an article about

how the dogs actually turn and why some situations on agility courses
can be really tricky for our dogs.

Turning and lead leg

A dog can only turn to the side of his leading leg: to be able to turn right he needs to have his
right leg leading, and to turn left, the left leg needs to be leading. If the dog needs to turn left
from being in the right lead, he needs to perform a lead change.

How does a dog choose the lead leg?

Dogs are normally turning easier and tighter to the side they feel more comfortable to do so.
They can sometimes choose the easier lead leg for example in straight lines where the
handler is not clearly on either side of the dog.

About 87-90 % of humans are right-handed. I don't know if there is a research of dogs, but
there is a research based on a group of 6313 horses: 88-92 % of them preferred the right
lead, so I presume most dogs also being right-pawed.This can be a reason for example to side
di!erences in some handling techniques: the dog is successful in Rear Crosses when he gets
to turn right but Rear Crosses to left need more training, or the dog will turn tight to the right
with a Reverse Wrap but will turn wide or slice the jump when turning left.

There are three main reasons how the dog chooses

the lead leg in agility course:
1. Dogs are naturally always preparing to turn towards the handler. Based on
this they prefer to choose the handler's side leg to lead. Most of the techniques are
based on this fact.

Let’s use Rear Cross as an example:

The handler is on the right side of the dog

-> the dog's right leg is leading
-> the dog can ONLY turn to the right with right leg leading.

The handler changes the handling side behind the dog (RC)
-> the dog changes left leg leading because the handler is on the dog’s left side after the Rear
Cross
-> the dog can now turn to the left, because the left leg is leading

If the handler goes too close to the obstacle before changing the side
-> the dog enters the jump still in the right lead and does a circle to the right behind the jump,
because the dog didn’t have a reason to make the necessary lead change to be able to turn to
the left.

2. The dog chooses the lead leg based on the direction of the turn he needs to
do. If the dog’s path turns to the left, the left leg is leading. If the dog turns to the right, the
right leg is leading.

3. The dog chooses the lead leg to be able to perform the obstacle. A curved
tunnel is a great example of this: to be able to turn in a curved tunnel, the dog needs to have
the leg of the inside curve leading.

Beginners and inexperienced dogs don't know how to change the leading leg based on the
shape of an obstacle yet. It’s easier to send an inexperienced dog to a curved tunnel inside of
the curve because the handling side and the shape of the tunnel both support turning to the
same direction. If you send a beginner dog to the tunnel from outside of the curve, they easily
get a refusal, because the handler's side is in conflict with the direction of the curve of the
tunnel. Exactly the same thing can happen in weave entries, for example.

If there is a conflict between two of the facts dictating the choice of the lead leg, it's more
challenging for the dog.

Help your dog with lead leg changes

Foundation training
If you teach your dog how to do lead leg changes and turns to both sides already as a puppy,
he’ll learn how to do them almost equally as well to both directions.

If you don’t teach the puppy to lead with the outside leg (the leg opposite to the side where
the handler is), many techniques such as Rear Cross, Tandem Turn, Lap Turn, Flick, Whisky
Cross and Running on the Dog’s Line can be really di"cult for him to learn and perform.

Obstacle focus
If the dog has much higher obstacle focus than handler focus, he commits to the obstacles
more easily and can choose the lead leg based on the next obstacle rather than the side that
the handler is on. If the tunnel, weaves or contact obstacles are the dog's favourite obstacle,
he "wants" to go there and easily chooses the lead leg by himself to be able to go there. This
type of a dog doesn't need that much help with lead changes, he does them himself to be
able to perform any obstacle he sees in front of him.

Handling
If the dog is not able to commit to an obstacle early enough to make the lead leg changes
himself or is he is struggling with the lead leg changes, the handler can help him by

Choosing the handling side that supports the side that the dog is supposed to turn to.
Turning her chest laser towards the dog when the dog is approaching the obstacle.
Giving the dog proactive handling cues, before the dog arrives to the obstacle, so the
dog has enough time to physically prepare for a turn.

Experience
The more experienced the dog is, the more he "reads the course” independently and helps
the handler, even if the handler doesn't give ambicuous cues to support the lead leg.

Janita

Have fun training!

Learn more

Side Strengthening Exercises [video]

March 10, 2015

Agility Training Challenge 12 –

Following the Handling [video]

June 15, 2016

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