Clean Run Magazine - April 2007 - 76

0' 4 7 3 MA S T E R P L AN B y Claudia Bates 6 5 T 16 8 9 14 15 17 10 2 This month’s sequences are based on courses run in the Masters, Advanced, and Novice classes at A Click Above. The course setup allowed for two levels of courses and four different sequences with challenging lead-out possibilities, discrimination questions, and handling choices. 13 11 1 12 18 Advanced/Masters Level We used the course in Figure 1 in our Advanced and Masters classes. After walking the course, I asked the students for speciﬁc handling questions and, invariably, people asked about the sequence from jump #3 to the #6 tunnel. The course begins in a straight forward manner from jump #1 to #3. From jumps #4 to #5, students had the option of doing a threadle with the dog on the right at #4, while bringing the dog in with a false turn or come to heel, and then taking jump #5 with the dog still on the right. When executing this option, several students failed to turn quickly enough to cue the dog, which left their shoulders pointing forward at jump #4 and caused the dog to take the off-course tunnel or just to go wide and backjump #5. The second option was to do a front cross at jump #4 and handle #5 with the dog on the left. This choice was more successful since it gave the dog more information regarding the turn to #5 and set the dog up for the #6 tunnel much more effectively. From the #6 tunnel to the A-frame, most handlers kept the dog on their left. A few students executed a front cross before the A-frame, but most did a front cross at the bottom of the A-frame before the #9 double and handled the weave poles on their right. Another option from the A-frame to the double was to keep the dog on the left and do a rear cross at the double to the weave poles. A few students did a landing-side front cross from the double into the weaves, after executing a front cross either before or after the A-frame. If timed correctly, this was a terriﬁc option since it set the dog up nicely for the line from the weaves to the #11 jump. Most handlers who did this option successfully had some level of independent contact performance on the A-frame and were able to get ahead of the dog before releasing him. Almost all students handled jump #11 with the dog on their left; most executed a front cross at the end of the weave poles to set this up. A few students did a rear cross on the ﬂat from the weaves to jump #11 but most found it more difﬁcult for the dog to read the rear cross without adding lots of yardage and/or going wide from jump #11 to the teeter. Handlers kept the dog on the left for the teeter, broad jump (USDAA hogback), and the #14 double. A couple of handlers did a front cross from the #14 double to the triple. This choice had mixed results with a few dogs going wide even as far as the off-course A-frame. Most students found success by sending the dog laterally to the double to begin cueing the turn to the triple. A false turn or come-to-heel call 76 1 Advanced/Masters Course 0' 3 9 4 2 8 1 5 7 6 T 4 3 6 2 5 9 7 1 8 2 Advanced/Masters Sequences continued to cue the turn and brought the dog toward the triple, which allowed the handler to keep moving forward beyond the triple to the #16 tunnel. Students kept the dog on the left from the tunnel to the tire and through to the #18 jump, layering the dogwalk. Some dogs had a hard time with layering. The dogs came in toward the dogwalk and missed the tire. With a couple of dogs, I had the student break the sequence down and have the dog stay at the tunnel exit before reattempting the tire from the other side of the dogwalk. These students rewarded the dogs for the lateral distance work with a thrown Tug-nTreat or toy as they completed the tire. Figure 2 shows sequences for Advanced/Masters level students. Students could practice different lead-out options when doing the black sequence. Most handlers opted to lead out to the landing side of jump #2 while executing a lead-out pivot or push to the #3 tunnel. Clean Run | April 07

Clean Run Magazine - April 2007

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