Clean Run - September 2017 - 38

Option 1

16
17

8
13

Option 2
12

19
18

which wing of #7 they moved toward.
Option 2, shown by the turquoise handler path, provided no such flexibility
but limited their path to #9 with the
dog on their left. Attempting a cross
at #7 sometimes led to the dog taking
the #12/#16 jump instead of #8. The
most successful strategy was to follow
option 1 and then take #8 and #9 with
the dog on the handler's right. This enabled them to pick up the dog after #9
and avoid taking the wrong end of tunnel #10.
The most successful path from option
2 was to handle the dog from #8 to #9
with the dog on the handler's left but
wrapping jump #9 to the right and
sending the dog directly to the correct
end of the tunnel. Jump #11 was in play
as an off-course no matter how the dog
was directed to the tunnel but no dog
was seriously tempted by it. Both of
these tended to result in the dog path
shown in Figure 3.
The sequence of #10 to the #14 weaves
is shown in Figure 4. Handlers picked
the dog up coming out of the tunnel
on either their right or their left. The
next decision seemed to depend upon

how fearful the handler was of the offcourse jump #8 if they wrapped jump
#12 to the left. Most handlers turned
the dog right after #12 (red path). Others turned the dog left after #12 (orange path). For each of these options,
handlers could then take the dog to
the weaves on either their left or right
- four combinations!
Taking the orange path trusted the
dog to manage the near perpendicular
approach to the weaves. Those taking
the red path could keep the dog out of
the off-course tunnel if the dog was on
their left. Only one dog was tempted
into the off-course tunnel when the
handler had the dog on the red path on
their right. Almost all of the dogs cleanly managed the entry to the weaves, no
matter the handler's choice of path.
The last major handling choice was the
path the handler took in getting the
dog from #15 to #17. Handlers could
be divided into two groups as shown
in Figure 5: those who allowed their
dogs to complete the weaves on their
own and thus hung out near jump #15
(option 1) and those who stayed with
their dogs through the weaves (option

2). Those following option 1 had to be
careful that their dog turned tightly
after #15. Dogs that went wide often
then ran past #17 on the inside unless
the handler could push them out at the
last minute. Those following option 2
had to be careful with their path-too
far toward #16 could push the dog past
#16 (runout) and even take #8 or #17
rather than #16 (off-course). They also
had to be careful not to push the dog
past #17, though few dogs did this. The
most successful handlers started with
option 2 but carefully ran straight toward #17.
The closing, #18-#20, was not a problem for any of the handlers. Most took
#19 to the left, slicing the extended
spread at #20.
Of the 53 dogs that competed, 28
eliminated due to off-course errors
while 15 dogs ran clean. The fastest
clean run was laid down by David Kurtz
and Snips, a Border Collie jumping 20
inches, with a smoking time of 29.74.
David's path was careful, letting Snips
run a smooth and efficient path. It was
a joy to watch! D

David Bozak is on the faculty of SUNY Oswego, with a joint appointment in Psychology and Computer Science. A USDAA judge since 2003, he has been fortunate to
judge in five countries. He and his wife, Esther, have four rescues: two Border Collies and two Miniature American Eskimo Dogs-three are retired and two are goofy.
There are also two cats in the house, but we don't talk about them.

Clean Run | September 17

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - September 2017