Thanks Mary,

That helps a lot.

 Quote: tracy r touzjian

So Geoff, You use au pied to come to heel? Never the ici? I haven't been working on "heel" yet at all with my pup. Only Assis, Coucher, and ici.

"Au pied" means come to heel and at the same time it recalls the dog so it is 2 for the price of one. You see in FR an "Ici" is not really needed for any of the exercises but having the dog within that 1 m circle of you is required. Front, back or either side it doesn't matter as long as it is within 1 m. So their can be a lot of interpretion of where you train your dog to come on recall. I've imprinted 'heel position' left that is where she goes. Marc Villian recalls both his dogs Us'Ton and Virus to right side opposite 'heel' even on his retrieves. http://www.dailymotion.com/user/calvaire/video/x11hkm_virus-emmerin-2007_animals and I've seen others recall for the dog to come around and place themselves in between the handlers legs.

I use a looser heel command in between exercises which is just "Allez" you really want "Au pied" to mean "Au pied" nothing else and make it all business for the dog.

 Quote: tracy r touzjian

Now I'm wondering if I should rethink my OB training... I guess I can call him to come with the au pied and when he gets to me, lure him into the heel position?

You can do that, but remember your dog is still young keep it simple and fun. I wouldn't complicate it any more than you have to at this time. You can still use 'Ici' as a command off field or as a looser command to put the dog into obedience. Better yet start imprinting your whistle recall to your front.

Our club decoy was just in France for 10 days spectating at the Coupe. He stayed at a FR Judge's house that has helped out our club quite a bit, this judge is a pretty awesome handler who has put FR3 titles on over 20 different dogs. We were talking on how he trains his dogs one of the things that came up was his recalls. His recall is directly to the front in between his hands that are placed at the front so he can give the dog its reward whether it be a ball or food. He doesn't worry about the dog coming right into heel position and is asking for a front from the get go. That makes it simpler for recalls and rewarding for them during training especially since we are working within that 1 m radius of the handler. (as mentioned earlier)

He must be using a whistle as it is a real tongue twister to say (name of dog) Ault Ici!! vs (name of dog) Ault Au Pied!! Remember in FR the recall command it can't be said in 3 words it has to flow all as one word like this "(nameofdog)aultaupied!!" as one word in the pronunciation. Not like this "(name of dog) 'pause' Ault Au Pied" it has to flow with no pause.

Thank you Geoff,

That was so helpful! I have so much to learn, and am really looking forward to it.

 Quote: mary k.pope

I have heard some occasionally add a very soft "t" sound at the end of the "asis" (sit). Perhaps, the similarity in sound among different words is the reason. I've wondered why they did that (since it is not the correct pronunciation) but didn't really care enough to ask.

I'm not a native French-speaker, but the "T" sound at the end is probably the "toi" from the phrase assis-toi (pronounced AHsee-twah. It's kind of like "sit yourself down", and is actually the proper way to tell someone to sit.

If that's true, then the same thing can be used to differentiate the down (couche) and touch (touche) mentioned in another reply. You can say "couche-toi" for lie down, or simply "touche" for touch.

I came across this thread because I too was wondering if it would be difficult for a dog to differentiate between "assis" and "ici". Although you could use "viens", "ici" seems easier to yell if your dog is far away.

Any Francophones out there use the full phrases "assis-toi" and "couche-toi" with your dogs for this reason?

 Quote: mike m. lin

Any Francophones out there use the full phrases "assis-toi" and "couche-toi" with your dogs for this reason?

You can use it in loose OB but for French Ring you have to follow the book. 2009 NARA Ringsport Rules

1.12.1.1 is the rules about extra commands and I'm sure it "toi" would be considered a irregular command.

For 1.12.1.4 the "Toi" would be considered a extra command. The way I read it is you can say "Sasha Couche" do your 1/2 step away from the dog and do the Fixation command "Pas Bouger or reste" adding the "Toi" you'd be in danger of having a stickler for a judge terminate the exercise and loose those points.

 Quote: NARA Rulebook 1.12 Placement of the Dog and Authorized Commands

1.12.1 At the beginning of each exercise, the handler will place the dog at the indicated place, or for the jumps, at the place which he or she chooses, while observing the following rules:

1.12.1.1 Any command given within 3 meters of the start location of the exercise will be considered to an extra command for that exercise.

1.12.1.4 The handler may give an optional fixation command, either “stay” or “don’t move”. Additional commands are not authorized and may result in
termination of the exercise. If the dog moves to touch the handler after the
stay command, there is no penalty.

You could probably differentiate between couche and touche by using the infinitive of one of them. For example, coucher (which is pronounced coo-SHAY) and then just touche (tooosh).

My dogs could always tell the difference between assis and ici but I was NOT a competition trainer and I probably used lots of body English (or should I say French lol). I am sure if you are careful with your pronounciation you will be fine.

For those who prefer using ici for the come command rather than viens you could maybe use another word for sit, such as assois (ass-WAH) which is the imperative form (impératif présent). Assis is generally the past participle (participe passé. Your dog doesn't care, though! lol.

How's that for a French lesson? LOL.