Clean Run Magazine - February 2010 - 54

RachelSanders 9 8 10 FC 11 12 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 her BC Fable represented the U.S. at the 2008 IFCS World Championships in Belgium where they earned a silver medal. In addition to teaching across North America at seminars and camps, she teaches full time at her agility center in Atascadero, California. Contact her at www.fastforwarddogsports.com. 9 8 RC 11 Option 1: A front cross between #10 and #11 is my first choice for handling this sequence. Option 2: A threadle at #10, followed by a rear cross at #11 is my back-up plan if option 1 is not doable on course. I ran this course in competition with both of my Border Collies. Obstacles #1-#7 I set my dogs at a slice to obstacle #1 to make #1-#2 as straight a line as possible. With one dog I led out just past #2, cueing extension at #2 while still allowing room for motion to get the dog to the tunnel. I didn’t want to be standing at #3 waiting for the dog to enter the tunnel before being able to move to the front cross between #3 and #4. With my other dog I led out along the same handler path but was in motion approaching #2 when I released my dog. My forward motion cued extension on the first jump and my dog gave me one stride between #1 and #2. Obstacles #4-#7 were an easy curve requiring nothing more than running. Obstacles #8-#12 I handled #8-#10 with the dog on the left. I gave my Tunnel cue as the dog approached the triple jump; as soon as I saw the dog heading for the correct end of the tunnel I ran to get to the landing side of #9 as the dog exited the tunnel and was ready to push the dog to #10. If you follow your dog too far toward the tunnel you will be running straight at #9 when your dog exits the tunnel and will not have the correct line of motion to push your dog to #10. If you leave your dog as he approaches #7 without cueing the tunnel, you are applying lateral motion and cueing a turn after #7; so you could incur a refusal at the tunnel. The first major decision was how to handle the turn at #10; I considered three options. 1. A front cross between #10 and #11 as shown in Figure 11: I would be attempting to get true collection at #10, using my outside arm to cue the dog to collect on the approach to #10. My location would be on the landing side of #10, facing my dog.8 9 10 Option 3: To be successful handling the dog on the left, the handler needs to be at each handling position shown relative to the dog’s position. For example, by the time the dog is at the point shown by the turquoise dog, the handler must be at the location shown by the turquoise handler. Since I believed I would not get to these locations, I discarded this option. 2. A threadle at #10 as shown in Figure 12: I would follow this with a rear cross at #11 to cue the turn to the tunnel. 3. Handling #10-#12 with the dog on the left as shown in Figure 13: I dismissed this option immediately since I believed I would be late getting into position at #11. If both dog and handler run forward to #11, that motion cues extension on a jump where the dog needs to collect and change leads. Additionally if handled with the dog on the left, the line from #10-#11 requires the dog to converge on the handler’s path. With so much forward motion from the handler to get into position at the landing side of #11, it is feasible that the dog will simply run a parallel path with the handler and miss #11 altogether or take #11 but be unable to change leads and turn to the tunnel, leading to a dropped bar. I decided to use option 1 with option 2 as an alternative if I did not make it to the front-cross location in time to cue collection at #10. Both these options required a rear cross at the #12 tunnel. Clean Run | February 10

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Clean Run Magazine - February 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - February 2010