You know, when I “killed” Just For Fun Agility, I figured it was indeed the end of a chapter, book closed. But I’ve got something to confess. For the past several days I’ve been amusing myself with a literary parallel.

I’m remembering the appearance of Carl “Crusher” Creel in Journey Into Mystery back in 1965 (#114?) If you don’t know, that was the magazine (comic book) that featured the mighty Thor. At the end of the story Crusher delivered what was apparently a killing blow to the Asgardian hero. I was thunderstruck! It was very hard for me to wait an entire month to find out if we were going to have a funeral… or what. Well, on the first page of the next magazine while Crusher is gloating we see Thor arising in the background with the thought panel above his head “I was merely stunned!”

All of that to say… JFF is coming back. Indeed, it is coming back with a vengeance as I intend to establish JFF as an agility titling organization, complete with rules, sanctioned judges, and so forth.

I’ve been agonizing over this for several months now. Frankly it means a lot of work for me to offer up a new agility organization in a world that probably really doesn’t need it.

If we are to study motivation I continue to be interested in a venue that is inexpensive and accessible. That means that training and caring for a dog and having an outlet for fun and competition should be as affordable to a 4H kid on an allowance or the clerk in a grocery store, as it is to any white collar professional in our society.

Now the difficulty has been molding the correct model for an organization that fosters a vision our sport so that dog agility might be as simple and easy as a pick-up game of softball in the corner lot. Clearly the model that is most prevalent in the world as based upon the AKC obedience titling track. All agility organizations follow this essential model. And for the most part it fails us. It makes our sport overly expensive and out of the reach of tens of thousands of people who might otherwise play the game.

Finally I believe I have that model. Some time after the first of the year I will make a formal announcement and have rule books at the ready and will be looking for a corps of judges and host clubs to give the organization life.

Let’s play this game.

50 X 30

While working on “small universe” training sequences this afternoon I came across this interesting little gem that occupies 50′ by 30′ of training space. I will always look at a sequence that I am drawing from the POV “how would I handle this?” And in this bit I found downstream considerations kept me reevaluating the forward handing bits. Without giving it all away I’ll illustrate so that you can see my point.

 

In the #4 through #6 transition many handlers will be inclined to turn the dog to the left after jump #4. This sets up a consequential path for the dog that makes just getting to jump #7 a bit problematic. I’m not saying it can’t be done… I’m just saying it’s been made harder than is completely necessary.

 

This discussion doesn’t completely solve the riddle. But I should leave some of the puzzle to you to ponder.

50 X 20

I suppose that this is a Front Crossing exercise. For example, in the transition from the weave poles at #2 into the pipe tunnel the handler might give a quick little rotation while forward of the dog to sell the opposite side of the pipe tunnel.

The #3 through #5 shouldn’t be taken entirely lightly as it might require two Front Crosses; one as the dog exits the #3 pipe tunnel and another after jump #4.

Of course these are obvious kinds of challenges that can be plainly seen in looking over the course. It’s the little subtle ones that get you however. #5 through #7 is likely to create some unexpected results as many handlers will take the dog’s performance for granted.

 

If there’s anything new offered by this sequence it is the elaborate Post Turns; from #1 to #2 and from #6 to #7. The Post Turn is the handler movement where I will most likely be reminding my students “Don’t do the turn. Do your job!”

Frankly it’s arguable that in many Front Crossing scenarios that the initial counter-rotation of the Cross is then compounded into a subtle (or not so) Post. Consider the Cross as the handler picks the dog up out of the pipe tunnel at #4 for an approach to the weave poles. This is precisely the scenario in which the handler will want to attend the dog closely (around his Post position) to sweeten the approach to the weave poles.

A Better Literary Example

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, British physician, novelist, and spiritualist wasn’t terribly fond of his creation, the unforgettable master sleuth Sherlock Holmes. Indeed, he was nonplussed by the public adoration of the character. At one point he sought to rid himself of Holmes by pitching him off the cliff in "The Final Problem" last story of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. He wanted to devote time and attention to his more serious writings. Holmes was brought back in The Hound of the Baskervilles and stories thereafter.