Front Cross, Rear Cross

I worked on this course with Willie the other day.  Although this course was designed for very novice dogs, 5-7 is really a pretty advanced sequence.  I tried it with both a front cross and a rear, and decided I didn't really care for the rear cross with Willie because he focuses too much on me.  Here's the video:


This morning I decided to use this course to see if Belle truly responds to my collection cues.  First, we ran a straight line three jump sequence using #5 from the above course as the second jump.  Then we ran the course as designed.  I marked the resulting video with two x's to show Belle's best collection take-off and landing spots.

I discovered Belle does respond to the collection cues, and that this is a very bad place to use a front cross to cue collection.  First rule for a front cross:  You have to be ahead of your dog.  If you have to try to beat your dog, you can't effectively cue collection.  Belle paid the price with a face plant.  For Belle and me, the rear cross was a much better choice in this situation.

Time Slips By

Willie is almost six months old already, and I can't believe how far he's come.  Between working with the dogs, editing video, and getting my flower beds ready for winter, there just doesn't seem to be any time or creative energy left for writing.  However, I am continuing to post video on my YouTube channel, so be sure to check it out occasionally to see Willie's progress.  Here's a short video of today's rear end awareness session.