Clean Run Magazine - November 2008 - 78

Let’s look at some examples of positional cues. 3 Figure 1 In this sequence there are several changes of direction: #2-#3, #3-#4, #4-#5, #6-#7, and #7-#8. I can happily run with the dog on my left from #1-#6 with the dog following my body to create the changes of direction. To get from #6 to #8, however, I am going to need a change of side, and therefore, can consider using a front cross. To follow the front-cross rules, I need to find the relevant change of direction. From #1 to #4 the dog can be on my left side. There is a change of direction for the dog between jumps #4 and #5. If I do a front cross there, then the change of side will happen; and the side change allows me to have the dog on my right from #4 to #8. I should be as close as possible to jump #5 when I do the front cross; the handler icon labeled “PC” indicates the desired positional cue. 8 7 6 2 PC 5 4 1 3 3 7 8 2 5 6 2 2 3 4 PC PC 4 5 1 5 1 PC 4 1 6 6 Figure 2 When explaining positional cues, I think it helps to show what handlers may be doing wrong when they perform front crosses. Here, instead of the handler executing the front cross close to jump #5, he moves into the middle of the box. Compare this positional cue to the one in Figure 1 and you can see how different it will look to the dog as he drives to his takeoff spot for the jump. Figure 3 In this sequence, the change of direction that is relevant to a front cross is the 180° turn from jump #3 to #4. The dog’s path from jump #4 to jump #5 is a straight line (remember the rules I gave you); therefore, the front cross takes place between #3 and #4, as close to #4 as possible. Figure 4 If you were to execute the front cross on the straight line rather than on the turn, as shown in Figure 3, you can see what a very different picture your positional cue presents to the dog on takeoff. 3 3 3 5 PC 6 2 5 4 6 2 2 PC 1 4 1 PC 4 1 5 Figure 5 The dog has a change of direction between jumps #3 and #4, and again between jumps #4 and #5. To clarify the change of direction between #4 and #5, look at the red line. This line indicates the dog’s natural path after jump #4, which, as you can see, is straight to the back side of #1. The orange line shows you that the dog must turn right to get from #4 to #5. So a change of side from left to right is needed to get the dog from #5 to #6. Now you have established the front cross occurs between jumps #4 and #5. You need to execute the cross as close as possible to the next jump, which in this case is jump #5. This front cross is called a diagonal-line front cross and is the most difficult of the three. This front cross is where handlers try to maintain consistency and where they struggle not to turn early and to keep position. The dog should be on your left arm until he commits to jump #4, and then the frontcross rotation should occur. Figure 6 Here you can see the positional cue taught to the dog when the handler drifts off the diagonal-line front cross shown in Figure 5. The handler here is also covering a lot more ground than the handler running the diagonal line in Figure 5. Figure 7 This diagram shows the serpentine positional cue. Serpentine handling can occur when the dog has a right turn followed by a left turn or vice versa. If you decide to handle a sequence with serpentine handling, you will combine two front crosses together where the second turn occurs. Here you can see that the dog has a right turn from jump #3 to #4, and a left turn from jump #4 to #5. Therefore, the serpentine handling occurs on the landing side of #4, in the position of the second turn. 78 Clean Run | November 08

Clean Run Magazine - November 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - November 2008