Frame Fun

Enough snow has melted that I was able to set up a course designed by Nancy Gyes for her Clean Run "Power Paws Drills" series.  She named this particular set of sequences "Frame Fun."

In the exercise we did today, the major decision the handler must make is on which side of the A-frame to run when she sends her dog over the A-frame.  I tried it both ways, and I think that running on the right side of the A-frame gives the dog a more flowing (and faster) approach to the A-frame.  In another three months, that advantage might no longer matter to Belle, but for right now it seems to give her a better chance of hitting the yellow.

If the handler chooses to run on the left side of the A-frame, whether she does a front cross or a blind cross, her dog's path from #4 to the A-frame will tend to flatten out.  The handler who runs on the right side of the A-frame can hold her position (red handler) long enough to shape a straighter approach to the A-frame for her dog.

I discovered that it was easy to push to #6 too soon.  One of my early "switch" commands caused Belle to consider turning into the #3 tunnel!  On the other hand, I also messed up pulling Belle to #6 when I ran on the left side of the A-frame.  The original exercise called for jumps, not hoops, and the #6 hoop is not that easy for the dog to see from the A-frame.