Clean Run - January 2013 - 53

Pushing the dog to the back side of the #6 jump spurred a bit of a buzz during the walkthrough as several handlers shared that they had only practiced the maneuver in class, and this would be their first opportunity to bring the skill onto a competition course. In designing this course, I had anticipated the majority of handlers would push their dogs to the back side of #6 and then do a front cross before the #7 tunnel. Instead, most handlers opted to keep their dogs on their right, accompany them to the back side of the jump as you see in Figure 3 and then do a rear cross at the #7 tunnel. Either option worked well and allowed handlers to then pick up the dog on their left and drive to the #8 table. After the table, several handlers were concerned with the off-course tunnel after the #9 jump. This produced a few loud Come Here! calls as well as spurred a bit of overhandling when handlers hung back, as shown in Figure 4, for fear their dog would go into the tunnel. Because the dog curled back toward them, those who overhandled this area were then forced to compensate with a hard push to the #10 double, which also had the effect of driving the dogs toward the off-course weave poles. With a bit of successful reactionary handling, however, most teams were able to get back on course to the #11 teeter without incident. In preparation for the next side switch, handlers either performed a front cross before the teeter or opted for a rear cross at the #13 jump. In either case, the dog was on the handler’s right side going up the A-frame. By staying ahead of the dog, handlers were able to pick up their dogs on the descending side and easily push them toward the #15 chute as Figure 5 shows. The short AKC chute had these powerful dogs coming out in less than hundredths of a second after they engaged the obstacle. The Doberman handlers were quick to indicate the poles and these selfsufficient dogs easily found the entrance and maintained a single-stride rhythm all the way through to completion.

3
6

8 11 T

10 T 8 5 2

Most handlers opted to keep their dogs on their right, accompany them to the back side of jump #6, and then do a rear cross at the #7 tunnel.

Hanging too far back because the handler was afraid of the off-course tunnel caused the dog to curl toward the handler and then necessitated a hard push to jump #10.

6
16 14 15

RC 16 17

By staying ahead of the dog handlers were able to pick up their dogs on the descending side of the A-frame and then easily push them toward the #15 chute.

The most popular strategy for the final required side switch was to keep the dogs on their right at the weaves and do a rear cross at #17.

Since the closing sequence required one last side switch, handlers either chose to do a front cross after the chute so that their dog was on their left side going to the weaves, or to keep their dogs on their right and then to execute a rear cross at the #17 double as in Figure 6 (the more popular option). Both strategies worked well, and the dogs were able to complete the course in style.

In closing, the Doberman teams did an exceptional job on this course and showed how solid obstacle performance and timely handling skills are critical to ensuring success. Why not set up this course with your training group and see if you can beat their 71% qualifying rate? Happy handling. D

Lisa has been judging AKC Agility for 12+ years. She is a full-time agility trainer and seminar presenter, and shares her easy to understand Agility 4-Every-1™ training on SpotOnAgility.com. For almost two decades Lisa and has competed with her Dalmatians, Labradors, Border Collies, and Belgian Tervuren. Lisa is available at Lisa@SpotOnAgility.com.

January 13

| Clean Run

http://www.SpotOnAgility.com

Clean Run - January 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - January 2013