I wanted to work a little distance with Belle, so I set up this course designed by Stefan Elvstad of Whatcom Agility Team. Stefan did an excellent job incorporating tunnel challenges in this course that have given us trouble at actual trials.
Unfortunately, after setting up the course, I was too tired to give it the effort it deserved and we lots of off-courses and various other faults. For example:
Turned my shoulders and pulled Belle away from the weave entry;
Turned my shoulders and pulled Belle out of the weaves;
Was late indicating the turn from #4 to the tunnel. First time, Belle continued on to the #12 jump. The second time, she ended up on the backside of the tunnel.
More than once, I turned too soon and sent Belle up the A-frame instead of into the #7 tunnel.
Failed to give Belle (and Dusty) enough information before they entered the #15 tunnel so that they didn't make a beeline for the off-course #2 tunnel.
Lost track of the course at #16 and sent Belle into the #11 tunnel instead of over the #17 jump.
Missed the A-frame contact.
Lastly, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Dusty jumping over the #4 tunnel.
I went out later in the afternoon and ran it again with both dogs, giving the course the effort it deserved. Belle nailed it (although I didn't try any extreme distance handling with her this time), and Dusty and I made it through with just one bobble.
I was hoping to be able to drive out to the agility field, but I settled on having Ed move a few jumps close to the house. I've gone out with Belle a few times and worked on simple box exercises. Today, I decided to have Ed set up the current Whatcom exercise in the space I'm using. Since I'm limited to sitting in a chair, we had a lot of off-courses, but Belle and I managed to get the exercise right a couple of times. More importantly, Belle got some exercise and I got an agility fix.
I also ran Belle on the Whatcom jumpers course. The first time through, I left the bars on the ground, and was really surprised at how far we got. I decided to put the bars up so the challenge would be a little closer to an actual course. Belle did really well, but I quickly found that the #15 jump was a very viable off-course both in the beginning and end of the course.
I learned that if you're going to layer a jump like this one, you have to consider how you're going to handle passing through a box where one of the side jumps is not very far from the dog's intended path.
1. Standing in the red area seems to be the worst handling choice, but even that can be overcome by issuing a quiet "out" command.
2. When handling from a distance, a good choice is to be to the right of the off-course jump as the dog comes through the box.
3. If running closer to the dog, running close to the off-course jump (but still layering it) seems to be enough information for the dog to continue from #2 to #3.
4. The absolute worst choice I made was to run toward the lower right of the course as Belle passed through the box for the closing.
(P.S. 03/23/11. In re-watching the video, it is clear I'm the one who needs more front cross training. I'm a late with my pre-cue almost every time. Once Dusty is in the air, he can do nothing about changing direction until he lands. He MUST have the information before his take-off stride in order to achieve a tight turn.)
This morning, I set up the Whatcom jumpers course posted October 23rd and ran it with Dusty. When David ran Dusty on a Regular course a week ago, he encountered the same problem that I had with Dusty this morning--Dusty failed to heed a front cross and turn off a straight line. After viewing the footage from last Sunday in slow motion, I came to the conclusion that Dusty was clearly not heeding a timely front cross. When I analyzed today's footage, I found the same thing to be true.
Below are four series of frames from today. In the first series, I gave timely signals, but no verbal command, and Dusty takes the off-course jump.
Front cross pre-cue given.
Handler rotation begun.
Handler rotated 180 degrees.
Message ignored.
In the second series, I issued a "come" command, but Dusty lands and then turns, adding a couple of strides to his path.
In this third series, Dusty is coming around a circle of jumps, but despite the really early pre-cue and "come", he fails to start turning until after he lands.
The last two photos are from our effort to do this course from the 15-point bonus line. Either Dusty has become pattern-trained, or the use of "wrap" instead of "come" combined with my lateral distance has resulted in what I would have like to have seen in our other efforts. Dusty is already turning as he comes over the jump. Notice how he has shaved a couple of yards off his path to the next jump.
Here is the video:
Luckily, there are a couple of sequences I can set up using this course to work with Dusty on his ability to read a front cross when there is layering involved. But another thing to keep in mind is that "wrap" may be more effective in getting him to turn off a straight line than "come."
