Clean Run - June 2017 - 54

Briefing from the Trial
Since the objective of the game is to
test dog and handler as described above,
the briefing for it seems to call out for
a story that helps illustrate the faults, or
that puts the rules into some sort of context. For this particular trial, I provided
the following (epic) briefing.
The purpose of this game is to demonstrate the first law of agility motion: a
dog in motion tends to remain in motion
until the handler stops (with apologies
to Sir Isaac Newton who, by the way,
was a big fan of Papillons). This game
is scored points, then time.
You and your dog are Indians; specifically, you are Mohican Indians living
somewhere in the Hudson Valley of
New York in the early 18th century.
Your village, the name of which is
loosely translated to "Chute" in English,
is under attack by European settlers.
Your mission is to run to a neighboring village, "Table" (from the French
and pronounced tah-bluh), to get help
to repulse the attack. Unfortunately, as
you sneak out the back of the village,
several of the attackers spot you and
give chase.
One thing to remember is that these settlers can reload their muskets while on
the run, so you must take a path around
Mount Ahframe′ (from the French for
"A-frame" and pronounced "ah-frahmay") that will prevent them from
catching up to you, or you will be shot
and killed. In effect, you and your dog

cannot take any mountains (the contact
obstacles) or hide in any caves (the
tunnels), as these will slow you down,
resulting in your being shot and killed.
And you must always be running forward; if you stop or turn back on your
path, the settlers will catch up to you
and shoot you.

the point for that obstacle, but the team
may continue. Jumps and the tire may
only be taken once for points, and must
not be repeated (that would indicate
the dog crossing his own path at some
point). These rules are in effect until
your dog is safely in the village of Table
(that is, he is completely on the table).

Also note that your path takes you in
such a manner that you must go far from
your village in one direction before turning in the opposite direction to run to
the village of Table. If you turn before
passing the second sign post (these are
marked with a green X on the map), you
will encounter rough terrain, the settlers
will catch you, and, well, shoot you. Oh,
one more thing; if your dog turns back
and crosses his path at any time, those
pesky settlers will catch up with you and
you will meet your demise.

Time will start when your dog crosses
the start line and will end when your
dog is completely on the table. Each
team will have 50 seconds to complete
the mission (that is, to accumulate
points while traveling from Chute to
Table). If you or your dog violates the
rules of motion defined above, the judge
will blow the whistle, signaling the end
of point accumulation, at which point
you must direct your dog to the table to
end time.

So, here's the deal. You must chart a
course from the chute to the table such
that the only obstacles your dog can
safely take on this path are bar jumps
and the tire. Taking any other obstacle
represents a slow path and the end of
your run. You must always maintain
forward motion; if you stop, or if you
cross your own path (with the exception of moving front crosses where you
maintain overall forward motion), or
move off the forward direction, or your
dog crosses his path, your run is over.
You must also be in motion when your
dog exits your village (the chute).
Bar jumps and the tire are each worth 1
point. Faulting an obstacle will negate

And since there is power in numbers,
you and your dog should be working
together at all times; thus, the table is
live at all times, so that if your dog goes
there without your direction, you are no
longer together, and your run is over.
If time expires while the team is still
working, the timer will blow the whistle
and the handler must direct the dog to
the table to stop time.
To qualify, the team must have a time
and must earn the following minimum
number of points:
*	

Games I - 6 points

*	

Games II - 7 points

*	

Games III - 8 points

A clean, portable,
water-repellant "floor"
you can take everywhere!

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54

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