  December 2004 Kim and I have been to two agilityclasses at the same time this autumn... Pretty comprehensive agility education in other words, with practice 2-3 times a week for 1 ½ month! I would like to share the most important lesson that we have learned during this time about agility handling: "The handler leads the way, the dog follows the directions." (Louise Eriksson) I will illustrate this with a practice from reality below:
Focus on the red lines: The line that flows over the jumps and through the tunnel is the dogs way, and the red line between the jumps is the handlers way.
It works just fine over the first 3 jumps, but the dog could easily miss the tunnel opening, since it is "out of sight" from the line that the dog runs. Here we have the first "rescue" from the handler, calling the dog back and sending him into the tunnel.
While the dog is in the tunnel, the handler takes a shortcut towards jump 5. The dog will not see the handler immediately in the tunnelopening, but he will see jump 5 and clear that. But this gives him a line straight out to nothing, causing a timeconsuming turn towards the handler and this is the second "rescue".
The turn will be too narrow, and the handler needs to straighten up the line again, or the dog will miss jump 6 on his way towards the handler. This "rescue" will show the dog to far out, and again his way goes out into nothing, and the handler once again must make a "rescue" to clear the last jump. This is a very common solution to this kind of combination. The handler is planning for a straight line over the first jumps, and then assuming that the line out will be equally straight, but without showing the dog the correct way from the tunnel and out, the line will not be straight. Remember: The handler leads the way, the dog follows the directions! Here is another approach to the same practice run:
Now take a look at the blue lines. The handler places the dog in front of jump 1, and places herself at the blue dot for a recall. The recall is straight toward the handler, on a straight line over the jumps.
At the dot, the handler "catches" the dog and moves with him outwards, showing him a straight line from jump 3 to the tunnel.
While the dog is in the tunnel, the handler moves to the next dot in front of the tunnel. This way, the dog can see the handler and the new direction immediately, and no mis-understandings will develop.
Once again, the handler leads the dog outwards, showing him the straight line out over jump 5-6-7.
Working with the handling like this, the dog will always feel that he can rely on the handler. It will give him extra speed, because he will always be focused on the next task, there will never be any time-consuming turns, where he has to "ask" his handler about the way. When both you and your dog is familiar with this technique, you will feel the flow more often than before, I promise! Make a habit out of always being well prepared, even at practice. Walk the training run carefully and think about the ultimate way for the dog, and your own placement to achieve the goal. Walk and run it until you don't have to think to do it right. This is equally important whether you are training on 2 or 3 jumps, or on an entire course. Then take the dog out and practice! Remember: Everything you and your dog do on the agility course, is learning for the dog. He doesn't know if it is wrong or not. So, be prepared! Make it right from the start - be fair to your dog, he deserves it! Here's an example of another, more complex way, on the same run >> |
The handler places the dog in front of jump 1, with a straight line over jump 1-2-3. The handler places herself at the red dot for a recall to get a headstart.
