The two classic positions on a tunnel/contact discrimination challenge are the blocking position and the body magnet position. Which the handler should use often depends on what direction the course goes after the correct obstacle. In this case it’s highly desirable for the handler to have dog on right for the presentation of the pipe tunnel, and so the blocking position is indicated.
The real trick of this sequence is the threadle between jumps #4 and#5. So the handling decisions leading up to that moment pretty much dictated by the demand for a control position to solve the threadle. Okay, maybe it’s clearer to me than to some. I figure I’d want dog on right for jump #4 and the capability to thread the dog between the jumps on my left side.
Serps 2
The opening is likely solved with a simple Post Turn; tho if the handler wanted to be a bit playful with it a Tandem Turn might lift the energy a bit. The transition from the pipe tunnel onto the dogwalk is an opportunity to make a simple test. After getting the dog into the pipe tunnel the handler should move to the dismount side of the dogwalk… rather than stepping in to micromanage the ascent. Dogs are for the most part perfectly capable of managing the placement of their own feet. All they really need from the handler is direction.
The sequence closes with a simple four jump serpentine. I often encourage my own students to do the serpentine as a series of Blind Crosses. I’m fully aware that it’s popular these days for handlers to work on one side of the serpentine exclusively. It’s a baffling thing, as it fails 40% of the time with teams that practice the serpentine in this manner constantly.
Serps 3
This is a pretty tough sequence. I’ll share something with you… at times like this that I miss my old students at Dogwood. I had 30 or 40 students who relish solving a riddle like this. Now, in my new digs, I have maybe one student who would approach the moment capably. It’s really okay. I know that I have some teaching to do here. Still, I miss my old school.
The first bit calls for a threadle or more correctly a pull-through after jump #2 back to the pipe tunnel at #3. This is best accomplished, I’d guess, with a Front Cross with a precise presentation of the dog’s path. I’d expect if we ran 100 dogs on the sequence in the turn from the pipe tunnel at #3 to jump #4 as many as 10% would commit up the dogwalk because the handler over-rotates in the simple Post Turn. This is a phenomenon I call a phantom Blind Cross.
The real tricky bit will be the additional pull-through after jump #4 and the long transitional approach to jump #5. If the handler uses a Front Cross or a Blind Cross after the pull-through the dog is likely to take the movement as direction to the wrong-course dummy jump. A more successful approach might be for the handler to hold the dog on Post, and use a Back Cross at jump #5.
* * *
The Questions
This is a funny bit I found cruising around old files on my hard drive. These were questions intended to provoke thought and discussion from an instructor’s certification camp some years back. If you were an instructor… how would you respond to these various problems that arise for instructors.
· A student argues with you about trying a specific bit of handling in class. This student doesn’t want to try it, and tells you flatly “That won’t work with my dog.†How do you deal with this in class?
· How would you manage the use of toys as a reward for performance in a group class, possibly quite crowded?
· You have a young dog that isn’t entirely focused on his handler. The dog might do two jumps, and then will go on a busy mission of sniffing the floor, oblivious of the handler. What advice can you give the student?
· You have the Tuesday evening class. This is a large class of 12 students. You are scheduled to split the group with a volunteer instructor. But the volunteer instructor does not show up. What will you do?
· You observe a dog taking a poop outside. The handler collects the dog, but not the poop. How will you deal with this situation.
· A young Border Collie in your class manages to drop every third bar when jumping. The dog is much faster than his handler and tends to flatten out in the race from obstacle to obstacle. What would you advise to fix the jumping problem?
· All of your classes are supposed to be prepaid. The Training Director advises you that a student is going to bring a check for $80 for class. The student shows up, telling you that she forgot her checkbook at home. How should you deal with this?
* * *Agility Training Buddies - Why Two Heads are Better than One
By: Carrie Cockerham and Lee Zerbian
(circa 2001)
The credit for our relationship must be given where credit is due and it isn't to us as brilliant humans. We thought we should admit that we did not choose to develop this relationship in the beginning. Our wonderful dogs, who continue to prove just how much smarter they are than us much of the time, brought us together. They pushed us into this partnership which has proven to be a friendship beyond a simple support system. So, to Rue and Lacey, our wonderful mixed breeds, big hugs to you both. Yet another reason we owe you our love and gratitude.
Regardless of how this relationship was forged, either by design or intent, we agree that it's a priceless commodity and highly recommend that anyone new to this sport at least take this little piece of advice and tuck it away for future reference. We've learned some lessons along the way and want to share some of our insights to the benefits of having an Agility Training Buddy. There are also some tips provided to help you find someone with whom you can share your agility adventure with in addition to your teammate (your dog).
Some basics we think anyone should bring into the partnership from the beginning in order to have a successful Agility Buddy relationship include:
· Being committed to helping each other, sharing in the joys and sorrows of each others successes and failures
· Being able to provide constructive, helpful feedback
· Working with each others limitations
· Understanding, patience, and honesty
· Keeping a sense of humorAgain, if you're fairly new to this wonderful sport, here are some of the benefits we've reaped from this relationship:
Having a "Spotter" during training sessions outside of class
Have you ever learned a new handling technique that you were sure you knew but when you decided to practice, you couldn't for the life of you remember how you did what you did in class? Or do you want to perfect a particular move but just don't know what it is that isn't working and aren't sure why? An agility training buddy has the advantage of being able to see what you can't. If perhaps your not clearly presenting an obstacle to the dog or maybe stepping into his path to push him off an obstacle, this isn't always easy for you to see when you are focused on trying out a particular move. An agility training buddy can suggest stepping back and trying another option that you didn't see. In many instances, a different perspective is all you need to successfully work through a challenge you're facing and can sometimes even prevent you from developing bad habits.Mutual Support
Anyone who's been in this sport for any length of time will tell you that agility is easier for our dogs to learn than us. Handling your dog through a course can be much harder than it looks. It can be challenging and it can be frustrating. An agility buddy will keep you coming back when you want to give up. A buddy will remind you of the times they had troubles and got through them. Your buddy will be there with you, experiencing the same things you are. So many times fear can take over for us humans and we want to give up. Some simple encouragement from your buddy when the going gets tough can give you the courage to persevere.
Changes and new experiences always bring with them a certain amount of nervousness, a little intimidation and a little fear. Having a training buddy helps keep your mind off those nerves and keeps the fun in the forefront of the picture where it belongs in this sport.
Setting and Achieving Goals
A training buddy can help you stay focused on meeting your training goals. Suppose you’ve been working on speeding up your dogs weave pole performance. You run a sequence and your dog flies through the poles but you are so focused on finishing the sequence that you miss the opportunity to reinforce. A buddy can also prevent you from coming down with “one more time†syndrome: repeating an exercise that went beautifully or working your dog beyond his limitations.Increasing the fun
As much fun as we have with our dogs, we can have just as much fun with people who are familiar. We're social creatures just like our dogs and being with people we know is fun. An agility training buddy is a friend who understands everything you'll experience in agility and the bond will build as you train and travel to shows with your buddy. For us, no one can understand how the tears have flowed and the tummies have hurt from laughing so hard at situations we've encountered in our travels. Agility is even more fun with someone to share that is "in the thick of it" right along with you.Different Perspectives
The training world changes like the wind and there is always going to be a new technique or strategy presenting itself at every turn. Having an agility buddy offers a new and different perspective. A buddy provides an opportunity to discuss new ideas, challenge and sometimes even debate each other’s opinions as your skills and confidence in this sport grow and change.Traveling Expenses
Money, money, money. Trialing can get expensive! Yet another reason it's great to have an agility buddy once you start competing in this sport is that all those travelling expenses (i.e., gas, hotels, tolls) are cut literally in half, thus leaving you more money to blow on all those cool dog toys and t-shirts the vendors just happen to have with them at shows. Seriously though, it’s so much more fun when you start showing when you know that you are never traveling alone because you have your co-pilot there with you watching the road, keeping you company and awake in the wee morning hours as your dog slumbers peacefully in the back of the vehicle. It's just good common sense not to travel alone, not to mention financially practical too.
Those are just some of the benefits and rewards to having an Agility Training Buddy. This "buddy system" really works for us and after all, isn't agility all about teamwork and fun? Here are some tips to help you find your very own Agility Training Buddy.
· Start looking for opportunities before or after your weekly classes to get to know the people around you. (Our dogs look for these opportunities at every turn, take a lesson from your dog.) CAUTION: Don't do this during class! Being a distracting social butterfly during class won't be greatly appreciated by Instructors or make you very popular with students trying to focus on what is being taught. Besides, you should have your attention on your instructor and your dog.
· If your dog gravitates to a certain dog in class and that dog reciprocates and is allowed to visit, take that as a sign from the agility gods. Dogs have ways of opening all kinds of doors to start friendships that we miss.
· Start looking for opportunities to do "doggie stuff" with people from class outside of that setting. (i.e., Shelter Fundraisers, Charity Dog Walks, Fun Matches, seminars etc.) The opportunities are everywhere! It's up to you to take that first step in offering that paw of friendship. Suggesting a stop for a quick bite to eat after class is a great first step too!
· Always keep in mind that this is about fun and friendship and you'll be well on your way. Fun and friendship go hand in hand with playing the agility game.So good luck, enjoy yourself, enjoy your dog and enjoy the people around you. We wish you find as much joy and richness as we've found as "Agility Training Buddies!"
Re: Day 3 – Serp & Such
Okay, Bud, here's my question. For Serps 3, I was thinking I would send my dog over #4 and keep her on the landing side of 4, then do a pull-through between the dummy jump and #5. I think if I did it the way you suggested, and send her over #4, pull-through, run past the dummy jump, and then send over #5, that she would be more tempted to take the dummy jump.
Of course, I'm looking at this on paper, at night, and the real answer to my question would be to run it, of course. But I was wondering what you thought of that approach.
I'm also curious about your statement "I’m fully aware that it’s popular these days for handlers to work on one side of the serpentine exclusively. It’s a baffling thing, as it fails 40% of the time with teams that practice the serpentine in this manner constantly." At the place I train, although we do try it both ways, probably 90% of us handle on one side of the serpentine and I'd say it's successful for us 90% of the time. My instructor's mantra for handling serpentines in such a manner is "drop your hand", as in, keep the hand closest to the dog low and down. So I was just hoping you'd go a little more in-depth there, too. What kinds of 'failures' are you seeing in these teams?
Re: Day 3 – Serp & Such
Hey Faelyana,
I think your handling plan for Serp 3 is fine. The way I've ever looked at it... whatever works is right.
As to the work on the serpentines. I think it's a great training objective to teach the serpentine as though it were a single obstacle with multiple elements (rather like the weave poles). However, it is often lazy and slothful handling. The game I teach is FTW (For The Win)... I never do survival handling. My own statistics are based on a hundred seminars watching a thousand handlers. Trust me... working one side of the serpentine fails 40% of the time among people who practice it constantly. It would be easy for someone to pick out three people for whom it works 95% of the time and derive the statistic from that. But I'm talking about the real world.
I find it fundamentally flawed that the handling plan would fail so often and so dramatically. Handling a dog in this fashion is based upon what I call "compensatory" training... meaning that we want the dog to compensate for the fundamental flaws of the handler. And most dogs are very clever about learning *their* handler and compensating for them over time. Of course that handler couldn't run somebody elses dog any more than he could jump over the house.
What I'm arguing for in the handler is someone who understands the natural ability of the dog--or nearly any dog--to translate true movement. I'm looking for a handler who will step up and actually be 50% of the team, rather than 10% as is popular among the smart asses with Border Collies in our sport.
Bud Houston
dogagility.org
Re: Day 3 – Serp & Such
Re: Day 3 – Serp & Such
Thanks for your comments "Guest". You might consider getting a member account on agilityvision.com... or signing your name to your posts.
With my own students I go through great lengths to teach the Blind Cross so that they know how to execute it, when it should be used, and when it should not be used.
The interesting statistic with the Blind Cross... if I put up a serpentine in a seminar almost surely most will try the one side handling because these days we're under pressure all to handle our dogs as though they are all a "fast bc"... as you put it. That's where we get the 40% fail rate. And then, I'll make them do the sequence with a series of blind crosses. Suddenly we have a 90% success rate while people practice a movement that most of them have never done before.
It's important to understand that the handler working one side of the weave poles does so as a survival matter. Most aren't fast enough or skillful enough with a very fast moving dog to actually weave in and out of the line of jumps themselves.
So... If I were to do a serpentine with *your* dog using Blind Crosses and get a faster time than your one-sided method.... do I get to keep the dog?
Bud Houston
dogagility.org
Re: Day 3 – Serp & Such
My problem with blind crosses is not necessarily that they wouldn't work as you describe for a serpentine, however, not only do I not believe it would be faster but my handling system is such that I NEVER allow the dog to cross behind me, EVER.   So while in a very controlled sequence as you describe this may work it comes back to bite you and bite you big when the dog takes the liberty of crossing behind your back at very inopportune times on course - I've seen this so many times that I can't understand why people blind cross at all. Also, just like blind crosses, same side handling requires the same dedication to training. The mistake people make is not taking the training to the level that you do not have to stop moving to get the dog to commit to the middle jump and in addition they tend to stop right in the dogs landing path. I'm certain that staying on the same side of a serp is faster if trained properly. I barely have to break stride and my dog makes almost a straight line over the jumps. The challenge is when the jumps are very spread out and I can't keep up but I don't think that the blind crosses would make this challenge easier. But as they say, different strokes...
Diane
Re: Day 3 – Serp & Such
I completely agree that the biggest failure with handling same-sided serpentine is not finishing the "compensatory" training mission with the dog (treating the serpentine as though it were a single obstacle, with multiple elements). For example, I teach my dogs to get out and "own" a pinwheel pretty much indifferent to the speed and direction of my movement. Though I do have a verbal cue that indicates "this is what we are doing".
So here's the real question... by eschewing the Blind you have limited your repertoire of tools/movements (kinder like a carpenter who likes drills and saws... but hates hammers' mostly because the sort of crafting he does under his system he doesn't have much call at all to use hammers)... can you really be saying that this is the system that should be emulated in our sport by anything even approaching a majority of handlers and their dogs?
OBTW, I've heard the objection to the Blind Cross that it somehow "disposes" the dog to show up on your opposite side unexpectedly. When in fact this is caused by an error in another type of movement (the Post Turn). Overrotation in the Post whilst losing connection with the dog is tantamount to doing a blind cross. I call this phenomenon a Phantom Blind Cross. And the irony of it is that even people who don't use a Blind Cross because they've been brow-breaten into thinking that it is somehow bad (like a hammer) by people who don't practice it or understand it... will pop the Phantom Blind Cross when they over rotate, and lose connection.
Of course under your system you've taught your dog the emphatic NEVER go behind you. In other words you've again engaged in a program to teach the dog to compensate for that error of the handler, should you actually make the error.
I agree with your closing comment... "different strokes". Too bad that this different stroke, the Blind Cross, isn't more prevalent in our culture. A lot more handlers and a lot more dogs would be more successful if the handler would only be competent with a wide range of handling tools.
On rereading, I apologize if my tone sounds rude. I'm actually having a good grin at this spirited discussion.
Regards,
Bud Houston
dogagility.org