Clean Run Magazine - April 2010 - 13

Dog/Handler Positional Relationship When my dog is on my left side, his head should not cross behind me, nor should he cross to my right side. He should be moving with me in the quadrant shown. I don't want him to hang back behind me, or to cut me off by crossing to my opposite side or by running wide around me (like an outrun). All orange dogs shown are in incorrect positions.

Dog/handler positional relationship is, in other words, where your dog should be in relation to your body when you are moving through the course or practicing groundwork. The Derrett system, which I try to adhere to, refers to this relational position as the BCBL, the blind cross body line. You can read many articles in CR and watch videos about the use of the Derrett system and the BCBL (most recently in the 2009 Derrett/Mecklenburg comparison articles). To explain it in a slightly different way: When my dog is moving toward me or running at my side, he should stay on the same side of me at all times unless I execute a front or rear cross. I like the dog to be positioned with “his nose to my knee,” his nose aimed toward the side that is closest to him. At all times when running groundwork drills my dog is in that quadrant at my side that is designated by the direction my feet and shoulders are facing and ends at my hips. The dog is neither dropping behind me, nor crossing in front of me, nor arcing wide in front of me and passing me by.

If your dog moves wide on groundwork, he will probably move wide on jump exercises. I run big and small circles with my dog, as well as straight lines, incorporating changes of speed and direction and using front crosses to change from one side to the other. I move my arms naturally at my side as if I was running, which is a physical cue to my dog to keep moving and is similar to what he will see me do when running a course. If I stop or slow, my dog should do the same and tuck in at my leg. This skill will eventually turn into your dog learning to collect at a jump for a tight turn.

Groundwork Drills
I may start the groundwork with a recall from a stay to my side, then accelerate forward in a straight line with my dog at my side, or move right into running a circle. I change the drills often. I start with the dog at my side, accelerate, do a front cross, and then decelerate and have a game of tug. Other times I just do lead-out drills that allow me to get ahead of the dog and have him come out of the stay at speed. I do spins in place, front crosses after deceleration, or encourage my dog to accelerate past me and chase his toy. I balance the drills to include as much acceleration and rewarding forward motion to a toy as I do deceleration and reward at my side. The dog should be worked equally on both your right and left side, and on both inside and outside circles. I encourage soft eye contact at all times. If I don’t have all of my dog’s attention at the run, he is probably not really working with me as well as he could and he’s going to miss some of my cues. These kinds of motion drills started with playing with my dogs as puppies and running around the field having them chase me and then engage in a game of tug. Playing follow-the-leader games with young dogs gets them on track to the more structured groundwork that is taught as they are growing up. I also work with my young dogs on leash indoors with lots of treats and at a walking pace. I always take the time to teach this skill carefully.
13

Dogs Crossing Behind Handlers on Turns and Front Crosses
I believe that dogs that cross behind your path during groundwork, and subsequently front crosses, are first crossing to your opposite side in front of you. The result is that even if you turn quickly or in a timely fashion, the dog that crossed in front of you will end up behind you and wide on a front cross. I think this is one of the biggest reasons that dogs go wide on basic turns and front crosses.

April 10

Clean Run

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Clean Run Magazine - April 2010

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