Clean Run - February 2011 - 30

Rising Stars
Challenges for
© © Alis sA Beh

This month’s exercises concentrate on the handler’s and dog’s ability to rapidly shift from obstacle focus to handler focus multiple times. They also provide the freedom for handlers to decide how the course is to be done rather than dictating a set exercise pattern. Each handler should be able to design an exercise that fits the guidelines given while using a pattern that differs from the next handler’s pattern.

By Stuart Mah

n/pet-p

erson

Alities.

com

The reason for this is twofold. First, it requires handlers to think about what they need to do rather than just mimic a set pattern. Second, it provides the impetus to concentrate on a set of skills rather than merely getting through a course numerically. The sequence that a handler chooses isn’t necessarily important, but the skills in the sequence are.

General Guidelines
The setup, shown in Figure 1, consists of a circle comprised of six jumps. The circle is surrounded by jumps and tunnels. To begin any exercise, the dog must take either the white- or blacknumbered jumps #1-#3. Once over either of the #3 jumps, the dog is considered to be in the circle. The handler must direct the dog to exit the circle over any one of the jumps labeled a-e and then wrap the dog around the jump back into the circle. These turns give the handler a chance to practice handler-focus skills. The direction the dog turns or the type of handling maneuver (front cross, rear cross, post turn, blind cross) employed does not matter. For example, in Figure 2, the handler elects to use the white-numbered #1-#3 jumps and wraps jump c using a post turn. Once the dog is back in the circle, the handler must direct the dog to exit the circle over any of the jumps labeled a-e and into a tunnel. As the dog comes out of the tunnel, he must re-enter the circle by way of any jump, a-e. The jumptunnel-jump sequence gives the handler a chance to let the dog move off into obstacle focus as shown in Figure 3. Again, handlers can use whatever handling maneuvers they choose. To complete each exercise, the dog must exit the circle by way of the same jumps used to enter the circle as seen in Figure 4.
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These are just the general guidelines. There are specific guidelines for each exercise, which start out easy and get more difficult. The difficulty doesn’t lie in the type of skill being asked for, but rather the increasing restrictions placed on the exercise.

Reminders
„When practicing, handlers should not worry if the sequence that they planned is not run in the correct order. Rather, they should concentrate on the skill that the sequence is trying to teach; in this case, rapid changes between handler and obstacle focus. As handlers learn the skill and it becomes more instinctive, they should find that their intended sequence goes more smoothly and according to plan. „While this article shows diagrams of how each exercise may be performed, it is important to note that these are only examples. There are a multitude of combinations possible for any given exercise; it is to the handlers’ advantage to come up with their own variations rather than just running the sequence as diagrammed.

Clean Run | February 11

Clean Run - February 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - February 2011