How to Teach a Dog Two on Two off

Two on two off is an agility term for teaching a dog to make the contacts on obstacles by having the front feet on the ground while keeping the back feet on the obstacle contact zone. Two on two off is commonly referred to as 2o2o and is a very specific behavior which is trained in small steps called backchaining, where the last step is trained first.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 12' wide board
• Contact trainer
• Contact obstacle
• Clicker
• Treats
• Toy

How to Teach a Dog Two on Two off

1. Start with laying a 12" wide board on the ground and lure your dog into 2o2o position. At least one rear foot must be on the board. Click and treat and praise lavishly for this position. You want it to be the very best place the dog can be. The instant the rear foot moves off the board, stand up and stop all rewards and praise. This will take some time for the dog to get it so be patient and do lots of short, fun sessions.

2. Start changing your own position when your dog understands that one rear foot must be on the board. With his foot on the board, keep treating him but move your body back or stand up while dropping treats at his feet. The minute his rear feet leave the board, turn your body away and stop all positive reinforcement. If he has the concept, you should start seeing him reach back with one foot feeling for the board so the rewards will resume. Immediately start rewarding him again when at least one rear foot makes contact with the board.

3. Raise your criteria once you see that your dog is aware that at least one rear foot should be on the board for him to get rewards. Head to the training board and have your clicker and treats ready. By now your dog should be assuming the two on two off position, although he may only be using one rear foot on the board. Position him by hand and only start clicking and treating for both rear feet on the board.

4. Expect your dog to hold the position until you give him a release word like OK or BREAK. At first, just expect him to hold position for a couple of seconds and gradually increase the time up to about 30 seconds. As he gets more reliable, start changing your own position while expecting him to hold his.

5. Use a contact trainer, A-frame at the lowest position or your board elevated by resting it on something stable so it's at an angle. A contact trainer is a slanted board to train your dog to assume the 2o2o position without having a full piece of equipment in your back yard. An A frame is an obstacle, usually between 5-7 feet high consisting of a ramp up and a ramp down. The dog has to run up and over the A frame and touch the contact zones at the bottoms. The reason dogs are not encouraged to leap wildly off the obstacles is for their safety and for handler contol.

6. Continue your two on two off training sessions. By now your dog will be assuming the correct contact position and you can start expecting him to assume it no matter which direction you approach the contact from. Start adding speed by running with your dog to the contact. Hopefully you are in agility training classes and at this point your dog can begin to work on full height obstacles like the teeter, the dog walk and the A frame.

7. Make sure your dog understands he has to wait for you to give him the OK to break contact and move forward. Sometimes when you add speed they forget this! Whenever your dog starts messing up, go back to the previous training step to reinforce the behavior.

Tips & Warnings

• All treat training is best done when the puppy is a bit hungry. You can feed him his meals as treats during training.
• This is hard for dogs to understand so be patient and expect to take time and lots of short, positive training sessions for each step.
• Always drop or give treats to the dog at his feet, not from up above.
• Never lose patience with your dog. This can take weeks for a dog to learn. Always make training fun and rewarding, especially agility training.