Clean Run - July 2014 - 48

Different jumps (tires, spreads, longs)
can be used to create variable distances
on the dog's path, testing the dog's jumping ability.
As an engineer and a certified canine
sports massage provider, I am also conscious of how mishandling or a misstep
on course can cause injury to a dog or
handler. So I consider that when looking at
the overall course and flow. In other words,
if a handler mishandles a section or a dog
missteps or lands badly because of obstacle
positioning, what can be done to the course
to be more "forgiving" to allow for errors and minimize, if not prevent, injury.

Obstacles #3-#6 presented the first challenge of the day. After jumping #3, I pictured dogs looking hard at the weaves
and running toward those, which actually set them up for jumping #4-#5a-#5b
almost in a straight line with the dog on
the handler's left as shown in Figure 2.
Turning the dog right after jump #5b, the
non-obvious side, set up the dog nicely
for taking jump #6.
The dog in extension over the double at
#9 allowed for the possibility of keeping
the dog in extension in order to run past
the wrong tunnel opening to the correct
one, with the extended spread drawing
the dog to the correct end.
The triple-long jump sequence was a test
of the dog's ability to negotiate jumping.
The long jump to jump #13 is an example
2
1

6
4

I started out with a spread as jump #1
going straight forward to a backside
jump at #2!

Dogs can look at lines and can see obstacles more than 21' away! I will place
"favorite" obstacles (weaves, tunnels,
contacts) such that a dog may see an
obstacle up to 50' away and run toward
that one rather than the correct one.
This creates run outs and wrong course
opportunities. It can also be positive, in
that "drawing" a dog towards a favorite
obstacle can actually set up the dog for a
better line down the course!

The Masters Challenge Jumpers course
shown in Figure 1 was designed for Riverside Canine Center. The trial was held
indoors on Sprint Turf. The conditions
were ideal to incorporate international
course design elements and different
types of turns allowed. So I thought,
"What can I do in international courses
that I can't do in regular classes that isn't
'dumb,' is 'fair,' and makes sense?" Let's
take a look at this Masters Challenge
Jumpers course to find out!

When I start designing, I draw the dog's
line first. As I draw, I sense the speed
of the dog and handler running-feeling when there are fast, slow, and speed
changes depending on obstacles. Next
I place obstacles on the line or perpendicular to the line of flow (in the case of
jumps). Then I rotate jumps to create slice
jumping and refusal or runout opportunities. I also like to position obstacles so
that there are always options available
for handling. The course doesn't favor
one handling system or style. It's always
interesting to see the numerous ways
competitors solve the puzzle of certain
sections. One of my measurements of
good course design is when I see many
different ways of handling sections, and
many of those are successful.

That's my overall philosophy in course
design. All those thoughts coalesce when
putting pen to paper.

ple, a handler may choose to send a dog
to an obstacle while moving away to get
in position for the next line. However, if
the dog isn't fully committed to an obstacle when the handler moves away, the
dog will go with her, incurring a refusal.
Another example is if a handler allows
a dog to jump, land, and take a stride, it
will create a better line to the next obstacle instead of tightly turning the dog
to shave off time.

Clean Run | July 14

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Clean Run - July 2014

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