Clean Run - October 2016 - 41

There was no one way to achieve success. Fronts, rears, and blinds worked on par with the newer Euro-style handling techniques. What remained constant throughout was the need to keep those communication lines open, as taking something for granted could prove costly. 2 3 1 1 7 7 3 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 6 1 1 4 1 5 6 4 5 Handlers who led out past #2 and tried to "block" the dummy jump cued extension over jump #2. The result was that the dogs had too much momentum over #2. Some dogs took the dummy jump and others failed to collect for #3, knocking the bar, turning widely to #4, or even carrying out over #6. Handlers who took a short lead-out just past #1 and sent their dogs to jump #2 while they moved to join the dog on the landing side of #3 got a nice turn over #2 and #3 because the dog was collected. Staying "inside" the pinwheel and flicking the dog to the weave poles worked well. lead-out scenario; by failing to control their dog's initial speed, many were left in a poor position to make a smooth turn to #3. Too much scrambling between the landing and the sharp turn after jump #2 sacrificed the valuable opportunity for the dog to properly collect to take jump #3. A dropped bar at #3 was the common result. Additionally, the dog's unchecked forward momentum over #3 often continued to carry to an off-course over #6 as well. See Figure 2. jump #3. Those who could, would precue the upcoming turn while sending the dog to ahead to take #2. They did not rush, but allowed the dog to "find his feet" and independently make the turn to #3. By picking up the dog on the landing side of #3, it was a simple matter to clearly indicate the correct path to the double. Once the proper trajectory toward this spread jump had been established, it was easy to let the dog's natural extension take over and pull him effortlessly through the #5/#6 pinwheel. Handlers who controlled the initial speed in the opening, while pre-cueing the upcoming direction change, were the ones most successful. Leading out a bit past the first jump served to regulate the initial rate of acceleration. See Figure 3. Running with the dog resulted in being in the proper position to impart some information, and manage the turn after #2. Preparing the dog for this change of direction also reduced the likelihood of a rushed collection for Overhandling the pinwheel caused a fair share of problems. If handlers went too deep into the pocket, the dog would misread the correct path as being over #18-or in a few, rare, cases, over #17. Staying "inside" the pinwheel, allowed the dog's natural momentum and extension to power him on through #5 and #6. Handlers could then "flick" the dog into the weave poles as in Figure 3. October 16 | Clean Run 3 1 2 The few handlers who ran too deep into the pinwheel still had the opportunity to save the run by timing a rear cross near the takeoff side of #6 and pulling the dog into on-side weaves. There were plenty of times on this course when some quick thinking could compensate for a handling error. Overall, handling the weaves had a better success rate from the off-side (dog on right). This side put handlers in a much more favorable position to smoothly handle the #8/#9/#10 serpentine sequence. Those who ran the weaves onside (dog on left) had to race their dogs to the end of the weaves and affect some sort of a cross to pull the dog away from an off-course over #12, then they had to line them up the dog for the correct obstacle, #8. Since the on-side handler was either racing, or already very far behind the dog, a lot of these awkward "Hail Mary" handling attempts effectively, and correctly, pushed the dog over #8... but then right into the looming offcourse tunnel. 41

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - October 2016