Wishing I Were There: 2010 NADAC Championsips - Round 4

Last night, I watched most of Round 4 of the NADAC Championships on Eric Larsen's live feed.  I've always had doubts that I would have the stamina to "run" the longer courses that are designed for the Championships, but I think with a little bit of conditioning on my part plus the distance skills Belle possesses, I just might be able to make it without collapsing at around obstacle #25.

I tried to create a course map using Eric's video.  It will probably need tweaking if I ever manage to find enough tunnels to set it up.  However, for my training purposes, it will enable me to set up exercises to practice the skills needed to handle the challenges presented by this course. 

The opening, #1-#5 is extremely fast and was handled in many different ways.  Those who started with their dogs had to have very solid distance skills to get their dog to #5.  Taking a modest lead out enabled the fleet of foot to run with their dogs through this section.  For those with good distance skills, a modest lead out provided the opportunity to handle #3-#5 either without layering the weaves or layering them.  #5 was not necessarily a gimme if you chose to layer the weaves.  Although many dogs committed to #5 upon exiting #4, many others took the off-course jump when their handlers failed to maintain pressure on their the line.

If the handler fell behind, coming out of the #7 tunnel provided many dogs with ample opportunity to spin and bark in frustration.  The smoothest handling of this area involved being ahead of the dog.  A few handlers were enough ahead that they were able to execute a front cross between #7 and #8.  This turned out to be a HUGE advantage since nearly half the dogs running took the off-course jump (#14) instead of turning left after #9 and taking the hoop.  For the few handlers that did the first front cross, a second between #10 and #11 made it pretty clear where the true path was.  #12 through #17 was pretty straightforward.

Using what I learned from watching 100+ dogs run this course, my virtual plan for running the first half with Belle is as follows: Lead out between the first tunnel and the dogwalk--keeping as far to the right as #16 will allow. Pace myself so that I don't pass the plane of the weaves and send Belle to #3. Layer the weaves being sure to put pressure on Belle's line from #4 to #5 while I continue sliding to my right so I can do a front or blind cross between #7 and #8. This puts me in an excellent position to do another front cross between #10 and #11, thus avoiding the very looming off-course jump after #9. Run with Belle on my left and send her to the tunnel under the dogwalk.

I think we could execute this handling plan if I kept my handling spot on.  However, the last half of the course would definitely require further training.

A rear cross between the weaves and jump #19 was the surest way to keep the dogs out of the off-course tunnel.  (However, even that didn't always work.)  Not layering the weaves was also the easiest way to handle the turn from tunnel #21 back to tunnel #22.  Unfortunately, once again the #5/#23 tunnel is not a gimme, and if you have to handle the entry, that puts you way behind your dog for the finish.  For many of the teams, the two tunnel finish ate up five or more seconds in spinning and/or redirecting!

(A spot that caused trouble for some of the less experienced teams was the tunnel/A frame/tunnel discrimination.  For the handlers that had to think about handling the discrimination, there was either a bobble in the dog's line or an off-course.  Those that ran as if there were no discrimination, usually had no problem--their dog took the A frame with conviction.)

This leads me to two different scenarios for my theoretical run with Belle, both of which require skills we don't currently possess.

First scenario: I work on improving Belle's response to the turn command so that I don't have to rear cross after the weaves. That would enable me to hang back and direct her on the tricky return to tunnel #22. But doing this while layering the weaves would also take additional training on turning sharply. I would run between #7 and the A-frame and send Belle on to finish the tunnels. This would require further "go on" training since I would be seriously falling behind once Belle hit the A-frame.

The second scenario begins similarly, but entails being able to handle Belle from further away and layering so that I can run the red line which would enable me to be a token presence at the last obstacle. To me this is the much better option. My yardage is shortened considerably, plus I can be a part of the finish. Handling #18 through #22still calls for additional training in executing sharp turns accurately, but the rest of the plan is more a matter of increasing the handling distance we're comfortable with.

Strategy: The Lead Out - Part One

Belle is a pretty quick little dog, and although I am capable of bursts of speed, I am not capable of running fast enough to keep up with her over the entire length of a course.  Lateral distance cuts down the yardage I have to cover considerably, but still in order for me to handle a course most effectively, I usually need to take some sort of lead out.  How far I lead out depends upon the course at hand.  

If the course has a fast opening, I have to take a long lead out so that my dog does not leave me in the dust.  For example, if we were running the Tunnelers course below, I would lead out to at least the exit of the second tunnel with Belle.  That way, I know I can beat her to the exit of the third tunnel and be in a position to direct her to the correct fourth tunnel (my prime consideration if I want to prevent an off-course).  Additionally, I'm not so far ahead that I can't run and thus encourage her to run as fast as she can to catch me (my prime consideration if I'm interested in achieving getting the fastest run we can possible get).

Dusty needs no encouragement to run fast--it's part of who he is.  If I were running this same course with Dusty, I would lead out to the exit of the third tunnel, face him and release him to the tunnels.  My distance from him is cuing extension; facing him is my signal that he will be changing directions when he gets to me.  (Sometimes this works; sometimes not so such.)

In my theoretical examples, my handling yardage for Belle is about 71 yards, and for Dusty it is about 10 yards less.  Without the luxury of a lengthy lead out, my yardage would be increased by 10 yards for Belle and 20 yards for Dusty.  More importantly in Dusty's case, I doubt very seriously I could get to a spot between the exit of #3 and the entrance of #4 in time to prevent the off-course because the faster you run, the faster your dog will run.

The Universe is Cheering Me On

Before I left for the Quad Cities Tuesday night, I began setting up the mirror image of the Chances course posted on the Whatcom Agility Blog September 19th entry.  Since Belle and I are only five Chance Q's from our second NATCH, I thought this would be a good course to try.  (I did a mirror image of the course only because of where my dogwalk is currently situated.  No point in moving it any more often than I have to ;-)

I wasn't feeling very well due to a chronic lack of sleep--but I got a burst of energy after reading Cynthia Kennedy's article "NADAC:  What is the Distance Line?" in Dog Sport, August, 2010.  I don't subscribe to Dog Sport but this issue appeared in my mailbox Wednesday morning.  I think it was a thank you gift for my recent tunnel purchase from NTI.  (The sale price of the tunnel and the free shipping were really great.)

According to the article, one Q in a thousand is a bonus Q!  There is advice from three successful bonus line handlers regarding how to train for the bonus point distance.  For us, the most useful tip was to pick an arbitrary "bonus" line when trialing and practice handling at that distance.  As you become more adept at the distance thing, gradually move the line out until you get to the 15-point line.  (I kind of already knew that, but I've never done it at trial--only in training.)

The article energized me out of my sleep-deprived stupor, and I went outside to complete setting up the course.  Well, the bluebird of happiness was sitting on one of my jump standards singing his cheer, cheerful charmer song.  Then as I was completing my tweaking, a band began to play--I live down the street from the junior high.  Talk about getting a message from the universe to enjoy the day.

I was raring to run, but first I had to transport a rescue dog, so I was unable to try the course out until late afternoon.  I ran Dusty first, and he wasn't buying into playing Chances.  I put him back in the house and brought out Belle and gave the course a whirl.  The 1-4 sequence after the second tunnel proved to be quite a challenge for us.

Here are the clips of Belle running this course followed by clips of us working short segments of the course.

I gave my troubles with Dusty some thought, and decided to bring him out and just run this course as if it were a Regular course.  Just getting through a course without him barking at me is huge.  Since we were successful, I decided to try handling it as a Chances course.  Not too bad for a team that has only one Elite Chances Q.

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P.S.  I was watching the video of Belle in slow motion today (03/20/11).   I can see that I failed to take smaller steps as I was moving toward the distance line on the viewer's left.  That left me with no option but to stop and depend upon the BIG ARM to push Belle out to the jumps.  Sometimes it worked; sometimes it didn't.  A much better option is to plan your path with the intention of remaining in motion.  It results in a clearer signals to the dog, plus it makes timing of cues much easier (at least for me).

Time for a Re-Think

A few nights ago, I was clipping articles from back issues of Clean Run, and I found an article by Allison Bryant entitled "Going with the Flow" (Feb., 2006).  The flow Allison is referring to is the ability to deal with missed obstacles and off-courses so that your dog doesn't realize a mistake was made. 

Many handlers have difficulty coping when "their dog makes a mistake."  I put quotes around those five words because 99.9% of the time, the handler is responsible for any mistakes that are made.  But what about when the dog jumps a contact zone?  Knocks a bar?  Has the zoomies?  Yep, even then--chances are mistakes are either the result of handling errors or training shortfalls.  Believe me, I know.  Running my Airedale was usually an exercise in futility, and I dismissed him as being impossible to work with.  However, in moments of rationality, away from agility equipment, I realized even back then that I was responsible for his mistakes.  If I had been a better trainer, Max would have run agility with more focus and we would have been a much better team.

When a mistake is made on course, many handlers will just bring the run to a grinding halt and go back to where the mistake was made.  Patti Mah likens it to being taken to the principal's office.  In my distance training with Belle, I usually break off the exercise, call her to me and play for a second or two and then restart in a logical spot.  In trials, I try to ignore any course mistakes and just keep going.  Another way to handle mistakes, one advocated by both Patti Mah and Allison Bryant, is to loop back to a logical spot on the course, taking  a few obstacles along the way to maintain a sense of course flow, and try again.  The goal being that your dog never realizes a mistake was made.

Last night, I went to the Quad Cities to play Extreme Hoopers.  I thought I was being pretty good in training to not make Belle feel like she was being taken to the principal's office when I messed up.  However, last night caused me to re-think that big time.  The first course ran pretty well, except that I wanted to try handling the circle with significantly more distance than was needed and got some rather unexpected results.  I included an approximation of my line in the course map below.  (As indicated by the red dashed lines, the handler is not allowed to go on the other side of either wing of the circle .)

The second course though was a real bear for us. 

I had abandoned my attempts at extreme distance before we changed courses, so I really was expecting this to go smoothly, with the two biggest challenges being the send from #6 to #7 and making sure Belle didn't take the off-course #11 when she exited #7.  NOT!  The problem for us turned out to be the turn to #4.  After entering the circle Belle turned right toward #9 or worse stopped in the circle unsure of what to do.  

I didn't know what to think since I felt my handling was indicating I wanted a turn away from me, but obviously Belle was not getting the message.  So either I was not doing a good job handling or there is a major gap in Belle's training in regard to what my turn cues mean.