Clean Run Magazine - March 2009 - 38

Build it yourself or let us custom make your equipment for you! slight bow to them and I have seen Stuie and Better be completely unbalanced as they go over the apex. These A-frames seem to have a springboard effect and are commonly used in California. I don’t own one (yet) but fortunately one of my clients does so I practiced on it. I found that I needed to put the box back on the A-frame and work through some of the backchaining before I could run Stuie over the whole obstacle successfully. Affordable, quality agility equipment for competition or your backyard Would you use a box to train a running dogwalk? Not for a young dog, but I have had people tell me they have used the box successfully for the dogwalk on older dogs that have been competing for a while. These dogs needed more criteria to help them have a more independent behavior on the dogwalk. The running style of the A- f ra m e a n d d o g wa l k a re slightly different and a box on the dogwalk encourages a dog to pounce into the contact area rather than run through the contact. On the A-frame the dog should not run head first to within inches of the ground; therefore, he will most likely leave the A-frame from higher up, creating a small jump. Sylvia Trkman’s successful approach to running dogwalks requires that there is no jump and the dog runs through the down contact. I like this approach to running dogwalks and am using it for the few of my clients who wish to train a running dogwalk. My clients who only want a running A-frame use my box method. Colored furniture-grade PVC pipe and fittings UV-resistant vinyl tape www.arfandrunning.com toll-free 1-866-222-8484 63 Hawes Bridge Road Prospect, Maine 04981 Visa, MC, checks and Paypal accepted Shipping at cost DVDs from the authors of the IN FOCUS book Once you have faded the box in training do you ever put it back on? Yes, I do. I noticed that Stuie was starting to hit the contact with three feet in competition so I put the box back on and put it down below the first slat for a few sessions. This is no different from maintenance work I do for two-on/two-off contacts and independent weave poles. This is an exciting time in the development of running contact training. Many of us are working toward the same end—a faster yet precise performance. (If you are wondering just how many of us there are, search for “running contacts” on You Tube.) As more people attempt to train running A-frames and dogwalks, more methods or modifications to existing methods will develop. Some friends have encountered problems that I haven’t. They share their solutions with me and then a few weeks later I have a client with a similar problem, and yes, I have a new answer. This is how training techniques improve. Have fun with your training and embrace the challenge of training something new. Is your performance dog Then you need to get IN FOCUS and get your dog “in the game” with you. ® Distracted? Unmotivated? Inconsistent? Out of Control? D www.cleanrun.com 38 Rachel Sanders has competed in agility since 1994, and with her Border Collie, Whist, and JRT, Trump, has won three USDAA Grand Prix of Dog Agility Championships and a Steeplechase Championship. Rachel and BC Fable are members of the 2008 USDAA World Team and were among those representing the U.S. at the IFCS Agility World Championships. Besides presenting seminars, she teaches full time at her agility center in Atascadero, California. Contact her at www.fastforwarddogsports.com. Clean Run | March 09

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Clean Run Magazine - March 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - March 2009