Clean Run - September 2020 - 12

It's a Fine Line
By Karen Beattie Massey

One of the crucial elements to successfully running an agility course is
recognizing the dog's optimal path
through the obstacles. This is the
path that will allow the dog to move
as smoothly and quickly as possible
around the course. Handlers should
support this optimal path by identifying the specific lines that the dog will
run on between each obstacle. The
handler's plan for the course should
consist of the best handling techniques to show and support those
lines for their dog.
What is the optimal path, and
how do you ﬁnd it?
Since every dog is different (with a
different structure, size, and set of
skills), the optimal path around a
course may also be different. The best
way to find what is likely to be the
optimal path for your dog is to walk
through the course as your dog will
run it. This means going over jumps,
surveying the landscape at tunnel exits, and generally being aware of what
your dog will see at various points in
2

the course. By doing this, you will be able to figure out the best approaches to
obstacles, which direction to turn your dog when there are options, and which
path has the most ﬂow.You'll also find the places where the dog may see what
looks to be a valid path to an incorrect next obstacle.
Let's look at what a dog may see on the training sequence in Figure 1, which is
based on some of the challenges from the Individual Medium Jumpers course
at a past European Open. In Figure 2, notice that the dog is likely to see the offcourse tunnel after jump #4 rather than jump #5. From both the #6 tunnel and
the #8 jump, the dog is more likely to see the backside of the next jump. And,
with jump #9, the dog does not see the next obstacle at all and could be drawn
to an off-course over jump #1.
1

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80
6

40
3

2

30

30
7

10
20

40

5

4

20

1
9

8

10

10
10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Dog likely to see #6, not #5

Dog likely to see
backside of #7
rather than
correct side

Dog likely to see
#1, not #10
12

Dog likely to see backside of
#9 rather than correct side
Clean run | September 20

Clean Run - September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - September 2020

Contents
Clean Run - September 2020 - Cover1
Clean Run - September 2020 - Cover2
Clean Run - September 2020 - Contents
Clean Run - September 2020 - 4
Clean Run - September 2020 - 5
Clean Run - September 2020 - 6
Clean Run - September 2020 - 7
Clean Run - September 2020 - 8
Clean Run - September 2020 - 9
Clean Run - September 2020 - 10
Clean Run - September 2020 - 11
Clean Run - September 2020 - 12
Clean Run - September 2020 - 13
Clean Run - September 2020 - 14
Clean Run - September 2020 - 15
Clean Run - September 2020 - 16
Clean Run - September 2020 - 17
Clean Run - September 2020 - 18
Clean Run - September 2020 - 19
Clean Run - September 2020 - 20
Clean Run - September 2020 - 21
Clean Run - September 2020 - 22
Clean Run - September 2020 - 23
Clean Run - September 2020 - 24
Clean Run - September 2020 - 25
Clean Run - September 2020 - 26
Clean Run - September 2020 - 27
Clean Run - September 2020 - 28
Clean Run - September 2020 - 29
Clean Run - September 2020 - 30
Clean Run - September 2020 - 31
Clean Run - September 2020 - 32
Clean Run - September 2020 - 33
Clean Run - September 2020 - 34
Clean Run - September 2020 - 35
Clean Run - September 2020 - 36
Clean Run - September 2020 - 37
Clean Run - September 2020 - 38
Clean Run - September 2020 - 39
Clean Run - September 2020 - 40
Clean Run - September 2020 - 41
Clean Run - September 2020 - 42
Clean Run - September 2020 - 43
Clean Run - September 2020 - 44
Clean Run - September 2020 - 45
Clean Run - September 2020 - 46
Clean Run - September 2020 - 47
Clean Run - September 2020 - 48
Clean Run - September 2020 - 49
Clean Run - September 2020 - 50
Clean Run - September 2020 - 51
Clean Run - September 2020 - 52
Clean Run - September 2020 - 53
Clean Run - September 2020 - 54
Clean Run - September 2020 - 55
Clean Run - September 2020 - 56
Clean Run - September 2020 - 57
Clean Run - September 2020 - 58
Clean Run - September 2020 - Cover3
Clean Run - September 2020 - Cover4
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