Contacts :-)

I have been thinking a lot about contact obstacles again recently, OK, it is true I am pretty much always thinking about contact obstacles! Recently, however, they have been a huge topic of discussion at seminars that I have been teaching. They have kind of moved into the spotlight because I have been using them a bit more in seminars.
In general I am not a huge fan of contact obstacles in handling seminars as they are either a problem because they are "speed bumps" and make certain handling situations easier. I also think they can cause a completely different problem, they hinder peoples ability to truly plan their handling strategy because a lot of students worry around contacts, not trusting the dog to perform them properly so they babysit the contacts completely throwing off their handling.
I have been bringing the contacts out more frequently in my Intermediate level seminars because I think that people need more input and education involving the contact obstacles and because this is the level that seems to be in transition.
There are several different issues surrounding the performance of contact obstacles these days, should I do running, should I do 2on/2off? Should I do 4 on the teeter or 2on/2off? Can I do a different behavior on the different obstacles? These are just questions regarding what criteria should be utilized, the questions only multiply once a criteria is selected.
As far as what is the "right" thing to do, that is completely up to you and your dog! I do let the dog help with the decision. I do this by paying very careful attention to what there movement, structure, and, natural propensities are regarding their natural behavior across the obstacles. Not every dog is built for a 2on/2off and not every dog is going to be able to have a running contact.
I also weigh how much time I have to devote to the training as well as well as how observant I may have to be to maintain consistency in my criteria.
For now I would like to talk about the 2on/2off criteria. The biggest issue that I see regarding a failure to achieve the fast, consistent, 2on/2off criteria people are looking for is first and foremost rushing the training. It is a huge mistake that we make by combining the bottom behavior with the full performance of the contact obstacles before we have fully trained and proofed the bottom behavior by itself.
Most creeping that we see on contact obstacles is a product of misunderstanding, the dog is not at all sure where they are supposed to be going or what they are supposed to be doing and it creates creeping.
We generally start early releasing the dog from the contact to circumvent the creeping, however, in actuality this just makes it worse but graying the behavior.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to fully train the 2on/2off behavior with all types of proofing, etc... before applying it to the full performance of the obstacle.
Within this process you should be building value for the bottom of the obstacle creating drive and desire to the 2on/2off position. If you have taught the behavior fully and correctly when you give the cue for the bottom behavior your dog should drive with passion, speed, and, confidence to the bottom completely unaided by you, the dog should have a completely independent performance of each of the obstacles. Definitely something to shoot for! Now, list your contact criteria, the steps you are going to employ to train it and have fun!