Clean Run Magazine - December 2007 - 27

In Cider By Bill Gates When speed is not a concern, the quest for a MACH title is really a quest for consistency: a quest for two fast and qualifying runs in one day—20 times. Dogs at this level have already mastered the art of consistency. They consistently respond to our actions and they consistently have fun. It is handlers who need to consistently train like they trial and then trial like they have trained. While earning the first Q of the day is challenging enough, trusting yourself to implement those same skills in the same fashion a second time tests your faith in your training. The potential for a prized Double-Q weighs heavily on the human mind and influences course management strategy. Can you layer this jump here and make a front cross there or is there a “safer” way to handle the situation? The choices you make will result in some good runs, some bad runs, and some downright ugly runs. © ANDRÉ JOLICOEUR Minding Your Qs So, the first run of the day results in a Q. Let the mind games begin. The second course is set. You fear that waiting for your separate height class walk-through will only heighten your anxiety so you enter the general walk-through melee with everyone else. You hope getting on the course as soon as possible to evaluate the spacing and angles will be helpful. But with so many handlers milling about and obstructing your view at every step, the course now feels more challenging than it did on paper. If you are fortunate enough to be in the second height class to run, you can watch the entire first height class run. Learning from their runs will greatly enhance your planning. Try to find a dog that runs like yours and pay close attention. Where do they run wide and where do they turn too soon? Watching the handler for this dog also reveals good and not-so-good handler positions. I cannot have Cider watch with me because she gets too wound up and tends to pull me to the start line. Usually I tape up a copy of the course inside her crate for her to study while I watch the other dogs run. I believe she puts a lot of effort into studying the map because she is always asleep in her crate when I return. Time for the attempt at a Double-Q: My first choice is for a good run—of course. I would like to complete the Double-Q with a run that goes exactly as I planned (and exactly as the judge planned). Cider 27 The Good, the Bad, and the Downright Ugly You have made it to the AKC Excellent B classes, both Standard and Jumpers with Weaves! This is the most exciting and challenging level of AKC agility competition. The excitement is in completing difficult sequences and watching how your friends handle these same sequences. The challenge at this level of competition is to maintain focus on the fun you and your dog are having while keeping in perspective the human quest for rewards. Competing in Excellent B classes entitles your team to accumulate precious time points and coveted Double-Qs. Titles can be earned and honors bestowed such as qualifying for the national agility competition or joining your breed’s Agility Dog Hall of Fame or, dare I speak it, earn a MACH. MACH Conundrum: Speed vs. Consistency Twenty Double-Qs and 750 time points equals one MACH title. While this looks easy on paper, many teams have strength in either one area or the other. If you are a team that gets Double-Qs regularly, then usually you struggle for time points. Cider’s agility-mate, Rox, had such a talent for qualifying without earning MACH points that we gave her gift its own name. If you qualify and earn no points, you got a “Rox.” If you qualify, earn no points, and are overtime but within the one-second grace time, you got an “Uber Rox.” And a Double-Q with no MACH points is an “Uber Rox Ridiculous.” If points seem easy to come by, then usually Double-Qs are rare commodities. Each camp envies the strength of the other camp in a “grass is greener on the other side of the fence” sort of way. We frequently dream of bartering one camp’s extra points for the other camp’s extra Double-Qs. Personally, I’d like to trade some points for Double-Qs. Not since I used little piggies to count did 20 seem like such a huge number. December 07 | Clean Run

Clean Run Magazine - December 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - December 2007