Clean Run Magazine -May 2010 - 37

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Using real estate wisely starts with how you get to your lead-out position.It's good practice to move exactly as you would if you were running with your dog.

“Cheating the corner” is typically not a good use of real estate. The handler on the turquoise path fails to set a good line for the dog after jump #3, as shown by orange path. The handler on the blue path runs the same distance, but sets a much nicer line for the dog as seen by the red path.

Second, the handler used her lead-out position to best advantage. The position cued the type of jump wanted from the dog and that enabled her to push on the path to the weaves. The lead-out wasn’t so long that it precluded the handler from moving to support the next section of the path, and it wasn’t so short that it put her out of position in supporting the path. Finally the handler moved in the space at a pace and in directions to enable effective pressure on the dog’s path. For example, the handler did not accelerate past the weaves only to come to a stop at the gamble line when she wanted the dog to drive ahead to the tunnel. Instead she chose a moderate pace that enabled her to keep moving forward to commit the dog to the tunnel after the weaves. The handler not only drove the dog in extension over jump #6, presenting the correct tunnel, but also made sure she would have enough room to do so without getting caught behind the twin tunnels. She also left enough room to accelerate toward the gap between #7 and #8 as the dog went into tunnel #7, encouraging the dog to drive out to the correct entrance at #8. When a similar course was run in competition, handlers who didn’t use available real estate wisely ended up miscueing their dogs, particularly if they performed a front cross at the A-frame. Many found they were out of room and had to decelerate as the dog was deciding how to jump #6, thus cueing collection and a turn, which made the off-course tunnel attractive. Some handlers could accelerate the dog over jump #6, but ended up deep behind the tunnels. If they took support off the path to hustle up to the gamble line to send the dog to #8, they often ended up pulling the dog into the offcourse tunnel anyway. Conversely, if they held pressure to ensure the dog got the #7 tunnel, they also got a nice tight turn back into or toward #9. The dog read the position and deceleration cues as he went into the tunnel, which indicated a turn when coming out. This is just one example of the specific decisions a handler can make as part of a strategy to use real estate wisely. Next we look at some of the concepts not covered already.

Lead-outs
The real estate you use between the time you leave your dog’s side and the time you reach your ultimate lead-out position is useful information for the dog. Be cautious about taking shortcuts (turquoise path) to get to your final position. I think it is good practice to move exactly as you would if you were running with your dog until you get to your lead-out position, as shown on the blue path in Figure 4. Also, generally with a lead-out, you are communicating as much of the course as possible via that initial position; in this example, the path through the first four obstacles. And, the only reason you are not communicating the path farther is you have to get to another spot to clarify #5-#6 and beyond. Try not to give up all the real estate you gained with a nice lead-out by waiting so long that the dog catches up with you. Although it’s tempting to stick around and admire how well your lead-out worked, when the dog commits to the last obstacle you can cue with your lead-out, move somewhere and start working the next part of the course. Finally, a lead-out can put you in a position to get to an important position later on course. Often it enables a series of choices that makes a critical handling option much later in the course viable. A big piece of your strategy in using real estate wisely is recognizing this series of choices and leveraging the lead-out to even greater advantage by making them.

Taking Shortcuts
A large part of your strategy in using real estate wisely is for the express purpose of getting to critical locations on course. Using real estate wisely may seem to be mostly a matter of figuring out where you can take shortcuts. I hope the first example illustrates that there is more to it, but wise use of shortcuts is a piece of the puzzle. My first and best advice about taking shortcuts is to be very cautious about “cheating the corners” as a way to shorten the path. In a typical example like the one in Figure 5, both handler paths are the same length and both use a rear cross to turn the dog from #5
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Using real estate wisely starts with being aware of how valuable real estate can be to your handling strategy.
May 10 | Clean Run

Clean Run Magazine -May 2010

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