The Scoop

June 20, 2012.  This morning was absolutely beautiful.  I set up a four jump opening sequence so I could try out a handling maneuver that Dawn Weaver refers to as the scoop.  She uses the scoop as an alternative to a lead out pivot with her bigger and faster dogs.  After reading about the scoop, I had my doubts as to whether or not it was something we could use, but I decided to give it a try before dismissing it.  After all, the more tricks you have in your handling bag, the better prepared you are for new challenges.

I was working without benefit of seeing the move done--I had only Dawn's description and a few photos.  As I suspected neither Belle nor Dusty got it.  However, after I reviewed our video I discovered they didn't get it because my feet were pointed at an off-course jump instead of the jump I wanted them to take.  Once I corrected the position of my feet, the dogs didn't seem to have any trouble understanding which jump I wanted them to take.

Because the handler's lower body must be committed to the jump she wants her dog to take, she has to turn at the waist to communicate with her dog at the start line.  I found this to be a little awkward and would have probably decided the scoop wasn't really a move I ever needed to use.  However, for the opening we were working on, there are only two other options:  a post turn (with pre-curving) or a lead out pivot.  My choice would be a post turn since I don't do lead out pivots unless it is the only way I can communicate what I want and still get downstream to handle an upcoming tricky sequence.

However, as you will see in the video, the post turn option really didn't work all that well with Dusty.  Dusty is not fully committed to a jump until he is in the air, and I forgot to take that into account several times when using the post turn opening.  With a scoop, I was 45° closer to the direction I needed to be facing in order to finish the sequence before I released Dusty from the start line.  This meant I could concentrate on supporting his path in the 180 and not have to fret about getting myself turned in the direction of the final jump.

With Belle, I felt the scoop was a little demotivating, but when I timed the sequence, there really wasn't any difference time wise.  All I really have to do is to learn to set up the lower part of my body faster.  As long as I run from the start line to my set up point, Belle will get fired up.  Remembering to lead out on the appropriate side helps too ;-)

 

Sometimes Two Hands are Better than One

We received some much needed rain last night, and I was able to get out early this morning and set up a basic little exercise to test the effect of pre-curving a dog's line on a post turn.

In our area, giving your dog a signal that there is a relatively sharp turn or wrap after a jump is known as a "pre-cue."  Most commonly, pre-cues are associated with front crosses.  In her book, Knowledge Equals Speed, Dawn Weaver outlines how to pre-cue a turn when you are using a post turn.  She calls it "pre-curving" the dog's path, and in her illustrations, she shows the effect it has on shortening up the dog's path, which is a major consideration for those who want to be competitive.  However, pre-curving the dog's path is about more than just speed--it is also helps reduce wear and tear on our dogs' joints. 

When you use a pre-cue to start your dog turning before take-off, the stress upon landing is minimized because your dog doesn't have to jam on his brakes in order to achieve a tight turn.  I was very pleased with how well Belle and Dusty responded to an off-arm cue to pre-curve their paths before taking a jump.  (Olga Chaiko uses a similar method which her students call "the claw.")  In fact, it felt so natural that I had to look at some older video to see if it wasn't something I was already doing without realizing it.  It wasn't, and it wasn't too very hard to find a couple of clips that showed the consequences of not pre-curving a turn.

Note:  In narrating the video, I used "pre-cuing" instead of "pre-curving" since "pre-cuing" is the term I'm more familiar with.  Actually, I think I like Olga Chaiko's term the best since it denotes a specific handling option.  "Pre-cuing" in general is just letting your dog know as soon as possible what's coming up.  "Pre-curving" or starting the dog's turn on the take-off side of the jump is really something we want to do no matter how we choose to handle a specific jump (front cross, rear cross, post turn, etc.)

 

Handler vs Obstacle Focus

When I think of handler and obstacle focus, Stuart Mah immediately comes to mind.  I have read many of his articles, and I have had the pleasure of attending three of his seminars.  At the last seminar, he stressed the different ways a handler can indicate she wants her dog to be in handler focus or obstacle focus.  Among other things, he stressed that to bring a dog into obstacle focus the handler uses a (relatively) loud, driving voice.  To bring a dog into handler focus, the handler uses a quieter voice.  Unfortunately, when my adrenaline starts pumping, there's really no such thing as a quiet voice.

This morning, I set up the course below and made up my own bonus line.  I knew the hardest part would be getting the turn to #4.  There were plenty of timing issues today, but on our first attempt I also used a driving voice when I said "left" to indicate the turn.  Now, there are two problems with that loud "left."  First of all, it was a loud driving voice, which as Stuart Mah maintains is best used when you want your dog in obstacle focus.  Definitely, not what I wanted here.  Additionally, "left" by itself is ambiguous to Belle since the tunnel could also be viewed as being "left."  A quiet "left hoop" would provide ever so much more information.  Unfortunately, it will not make up for a failure to support Belle's line to the point where I want the turn.  ;-)

And Now for Something Totally Different

I seldom do any venting or soul-baring on my blog, but today I want to come clean and say, "Hi, I'm Rose, and I tend to become obsessed with my hobbies."  Over the years, Belle has enabled me in my agility obsession, but it has caught up with us, and she has been battling a lameness issue since late March or early April.  The lameness has been very fleeting, and so I put off taking her to a vet figuring it was too subtle a problem for a general practitioner to diagnose.  At the last NADAC trial  (recall I only ran Dusty), a couple of friends told me about a Davenport vet who does chiro and acupuncture, and who is in the process of finishing up her courses in canine rehabilitation.

Belle had her first session with Dr. Taylor yesterday.  Luckily, the problems seem to be minor and with a little longer break from jumping and contacts, some stretches, and icing we should be back on track for agility with no holds barred.  However, I will be much more selective in what we work on and how often we work on it.  In the meantime, I decided it's time to tackle a canine sport that I have been interested in since Max was a youngster--canine freestyle.

Belle knows lots of tricks, including some freestyle moves.  However, I've never tried stringing any of them together until today.  I marked off an area in the field and gave it a whirl.  I was humming You're the One that I Want while we played, but next time I'll take the music out with us and play it while we practice.  Please don't laugh, but here is a very heavily edited video of our first practice.  Enjoy.