6 Courses 1 Week

We once again had both open agility and regular class this past week.  Hopefully this won't get too confusing with all the courses and colors and numbers.  Anyways, this first set up was from open agility.  The black course was what was set up and I came up with the red course. 

Black course: The opening was a little tricky.  I came up with my own solution that worked but had a very wide turn between 2 and 3.  I later saw the instructor run one of her dogs in a way that worked much much better.  My way was to send my dog to the tunnel and get in position for a front cross on the landing side of jump 2, then it was just a push over 3 and a post turn to 4.  My girls apparently didn't read my front cross very well though, hence the wide turn.  The instructor stayed on the landing side of jump 3, sending her dog over 2 and bringing her back over 3 with a front cross and rotate to 4.  This had a much tighter turn between 2 and 3 and just looked really nice.  Gracie had some trouble landing her "bottom" with me running on the other side of the tunnel.  We'll practice some distance at the open contacts class this week.  Gidget kept popping out of the weaves.  I'm not sure if she had too fast of an entry after the tunnel or if the lighting was bad and she had trouble seeing that second or third pole.  She did pop out a couple of time just starting at 10 too.  A front cross worked well after 10, except I really had to call Gidget off the tire (Gracie sticks with me really well).  There were a couple options I tried for 12 to the end.  I did a post turn from 12 to 13 then rear crossed 14.  Then I also tried setting up for a front cross after 13 while my dog was still in the chute.  That worked fairly well, but both my girls could use more chute confidence.

Red course: Gracie had a little trouble with the "out" to 3, she loves her contacts a little too much.  I did a front cross after 3.  5-6-7 was a serpentine, though I had to call Gidget off the tunnel and rear cross over 7.  A better option that I didn't try may have been to do a front cross after the tire.  9-10-11 was tricky, but I got it to work with both dogs.  One option, probably the best, was to front cross after 8, flip to the tunnel, then front cross after 10.  Ok, not even going to mention the other things I tried because looking at them now, they were not the smartest things to do, oops!

Now on to the class courses.  Pay attention to this second diagram and try not to get the black and red courses confused.  Both dogs rand the black course with different endings, Gracie ran the red course, and Gidget ran the blue and purple courses.  Good luck!

Black course: The opening to this and the red course were just a mirror image to that of the open agility black course, so won't go over that again.  Front cross after 6.  Another front cross after 12, but you have to be careful to keep your dog going straight over the broad jump.  (Gracie ran the "a" ending and Gidget ran the "b" ending which obviously does not need a front cross after 12.)  13a-14a-15a is just a serpentine.  The "b" ending was trickier than it looked, I kept accidentally calling Gidget off of 13b.  The instructor said to keep quiet for straight-aways until after the last jump if a change in direction is needed.  That seems to be something Gidget and I need to work on.  I believe I rear crossed 15b, though a front cross would work there too.

Red course:  Again, very similar opening except that you had to wrap 5.  I did a front cross jump wrap around the standard closer to jump 4.  Others treated 3-4-5 like a serpentine with the dog on the left and wrapped the far standard of jump 5.  There was some discussion on which would be easier on the dog.  I think either method would work out for the dog.  The way I did it Gracie was already moving in a circular motion and the front cross jump wrap just completed that circle.  For a serpentine, the dog is moving in more of a straight line, making it easier to wrap the far standard than it would be to wrap the closer one.  You just wouldn't want to mix these up, that would be much harder on the dog.  I tried both a front cross after 8 and a rear cross over 9.  The front cross was much smoother for me since I could easily get ahead of Gracie.  I had to actually think about slowing down for Gracie to get ahead of me for a rear cross.  Then ended the course with a front cross after 14.

Blue course:  I did a front cross after 2, making sure I was a couple steps past the weaves so that I didn't get stuck behind jump 3.  7-8-9 is a serpentine, but if you keep your dog on the left your cue for a tight turn from 7 to 8 has to be timed just right to keep from accidentally calling your dog off of 7.  A front cross after 7 can work too. 

Purple course:  I needed a good strong cue to get Gidget to 3 and keep her away from the tunnel.  I ended up rear crossing 4 but a front cross after 3 probably would have worked better since I was ahead of Gidget.  I did a front cross after 11 (just like 12-13a).  The 13-14-15 serpentine could be run from either side, but I was ahead of Gidget so I did a front cross after 13 and ran with her on my left to the end.

I think that covers everything course-wise for the week.  I'll have to share Gracie's success story from open agility another time, this post is long enough.  Next week's will probably be longer though!  Happy agility!