By Nancy Gyes On the Diagonal drills 1 2 Diagonal lines are found everywhere in agility. They are not necessarily a problem for dogs, but it can be difficult to create a good turn when jumping on a diagonal line, especially for long-strided dogs whether they are small or tall. On a diagonal line the dog usually lands toward the farthest corner of the jump, heading in the direction of the line. In Figure 1 the dog is jumping diagonally across the bar, landing to the right side of the jump. It is easy to create a turn to the right, but longer and more difficult to create a turn to the left. Occasionally on diagonal line turns the dog will back jump the jump when turning away from the flow of the line. There are front and rear crosses and pushes to the back sides of jumps in this setup and decisions about whether to use a threadle arm signal to pull your dog to the front of a jump. Running different kinds of diagonal lines like in Figure 2 should be part of your regular jump skills training. I hope you enjoy the exercises in “On the Diagonal,” I know I did. D On a diagonal line the dog usually lands toward the farthest corner of the jump, heading in the direction of the line. 3 4 3 3 2 4 4 2 1 5 5 1 On the diagonal Run this diagonal line drill on both sides. Run from a short lead-out, as shown with the black numbers, or lead out all the way to #3 as shown with the white. Work the turn at #3 to get a straight line from #3 to #5. July 12 | | Clean Run Clean Run 23