# Practicing Crosses- With Video!



## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

So here's the real scoop. Pimg was pathetically slow and disinterested at the Steve Schwarz handling seminar. I got a hotel only 15mins away the night before, and other than a phone call from my drunk brother at 3:30am, we both slept just fine. However, after the first run at the seminar (which happened to be rear crosses, not that it matters) Pimg disconnected. ZERO interest in it all. Talk about beyond frustrating! Still, I learned a lot and was able to coax at least enough energy out of her to _barely_ get through the sequences.

So- I really, really wanted to set some stuff up here at home and run them again with Pimg at full speed. I've modified the course ever so slightly mostly because I wanted to get something setup and ran before a completely drenched, rain soaked weekend begins. Here's the course map for practicing front crosses:









And here's the video


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Ok, I'm all about crosses so going to try to set that up.

Looks like you learned at the seminar why dog classes and seminars are the way to go for many of us. The dog we have in our back yard, the brilliant fast dog  is not always the one that shows up at a trial or clinic/seminar. It's CRAZY how much the 'where' can matter to a dog.

Would Pimg play tug or chase a toy at all at the seminar?

Must have been frustrating cause you know how fast your pup can FLY!!!

LOVE the way you broke down your video with the front cross between 2 and 3! This is SO important to give early info to my girls on any cross so they collect and know where they are going after a jump before/while they are taking off for the previous jump!!! Love the way you can see Pimp go into extension (towards an off course jump) rather then collection for the turn an earlier cue would have given!


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Pimg is very stable in new environments (have you seen our Superdogs video??). I have no idea why she was so disinterested at the seminar. She's never acted like that at a trial either- which is for all intents and purposes is the exact same as the seminar location. My best guess is that it was the 228 mile drive there. I guess. I really don't know. Anyway- It's not raining yet (it's supposed to be!) so I'm going to go setup a similar rear cross sequence.

I will note- it was raining at the seminar location, and it was hot, humid, and muggy in the building. I was pouring sweat (not unusual for me though). I try not to accept excuses like that for my dog. This is a GSD for crying out loud. But... she's not a robot. Maybe it was the weather. Who knows.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

wildo said:


> ...........................But... she's not a robot. Maybe it was the weather. *Who knows?*


EXACTLY! They are dogs and it's crazy hard to sometimes figure out what's happening! But better to find out at a seminar (and get them used to a seminar) than at a championship, or nationals, or last legs for some title!!!


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Rear cross practice.


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## KristiM (Oct 18, 2011)

Thanks for posting these...I'm excited to give them a try! Pimg looks great

I love all the courses and videos you post, gives me lots to work on with my boys!


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Thanks Kristi! Based on the videos you posted, I'm sure you'll have little trouble here. The real key for these two sequences is not getting through them, but getting through with proper mechanics. You'd never actually run a course like this; that's not at all the point. The point is to work the mechanics of the crosses. 

For the rear cross- be sure that the cross is known to the dog _before_ the commitment point! This is the biggest thing I learned about rear crosses. If you break the cross down into two movements- the movement from the start position to directly behind the dog, and the movement from directly behind the dog to the new side-- both movements need to happen _before_ the dog makes the jump. This is what it means to "provide info early" and this is where I always failed with my rear crosses. I would do the first movement as Pimg was jumping, and then wonder why she would spin the opposite direction on landing... Spinning is a sure sign that the information for the cross was not provided early enough. The dog should know the direction it's going before he jumps. This was a real revelation to me in rear crossing.

For the front cross, be sure to mind the handler line. This is the line drawn between the two outer uprights of a two jump sequence when the handler is entering from inside the jumps, or the handler line is drawn between the inside uprights of a two jump sequence when the handler is entering from the outside of the jumps. A big problem with front crossing is that handlers tend to cross way outside the handler line which forces the dog wide wasting time. Being mindful of the line and actually crossing on it is a great way to tighten up the course. Look how tight Pimg ran that course when I crossed appropriately! And just in case you're curious, I believe the "handler line" is mentioned in both the APHS as well as the Greg Derrett system. You can read more about it here: AgilityNerd : Handler Line/Front Cross Line


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## KristiM (Oct 18, 2011)

Haha, thanks for the vote of confidence! I think having "little trouble" is a massive stretch though lol. I have been trying to expand my handling skills a little by trying a few of the "agility courses of the week" and I have been pretty surprised how much trouble I had with them! NADAC is all I have ever done and it is definitely a lot easier on the handler than the more international style courses and sequences. 

Thanks for the info! I am going to try the front cross sequence on wednesday, hopefully I will remember to get some video, I need all the handling help I can get! I am still pretty new to doing rear crosses, I am still in the ground work phase with havoc. I am getting a bit better with Odin doing them, so the rear cross sequence will be great practice for us. If we can manage to keep 50% of the bars up I will be happy (we haven't been knocking as many bars lately which means my timing must be getting a bit better.) Thanks for the link, I am going to check it out.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Don't worry about the bars- in fact, set them very low- like 12". Again- it's NOT about getting through these sequences with all the bars up. It's about practicing the mechanics of the cross. I mean seriously- show me even one "real" course where you'd have back-to-back-to-back-to-back-etc crosses. Not going to happen. So this is all about the crossing practice, in an amazingly elegant little course. Definitely more fun and more "real world" to get to practice crosses in a mini sequence than in just one jump or two jump sequences.

I'd recommend reading these links before trying. Not just because I went to the seminar recently- I've linked to agilitynerd plenty of times on here prior- but because they are FULL of really useful info. Especially if you are struggling.

Front/Rear Crosses:
AgilityNerd : Learning the Front Cross
AgilityNerd : Learning the Rear Cross
AgilityNerd : Handler Line/Front Cross Line
AgilityNerd : Mental Aspects of Front and Rear Crosses


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## KristiM (Oct 18, 2011)

I usually do have the bars set quite low when I'm practicing handling skills...he knocks the 8" bars just to let me know when I'm late I will take a look at the links, thanks! I just need more practice on tight stuff, I am a SPEED junkie so I do WAY too many open sequences with lots of straightaways. Good for NADAC but no so much if I want to compete in other venues.


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## KristiM (Oct 18, 2011)

I gave the front cross sequence a try today...in the videos it's knida hard to tell what I am doing BUT I can definitely tell how LATE I am on the first 2 crosses in the first video! I seem to get a little better in the next two, but I still need some work especially with the first couple of crosses. (Sorry about the video quality, new "helper.")













 
Just curious to what y'all think is the reason for the knocked bars in the 3rd video? Am I late? (I didn't really feel like I was) Or is my dog just not picking up his feet? (I know I know it's never the dog!)






 
Havoc is dealing with the toy on the ground behind me, which really contributed to his wide turns. Again it's hard to tell in the video what I am doing, I definitely have a harder time handling him. He is very fast and umm "twitchy," very different from my other two dogs. Would love some feedback on my handling!

(I hope I am not hijacking your thread Wildo! Let me know if you would like me to start my own)


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## rooandtree (May 13, 2012)

i love watching all these videos!! what great dogs!!! although when i first saw this thread i thought it said practicing crosses with voodoo and i was very curious what it was about lol...think my eyes are telling me to go to bed


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Wow KristiM! Very nice stuff! Your dogs are VERY fast!

The video isn't good enough for much of a critique, but one thing for certain in the first video is that you ARE late on the second cross. Why? Because you are way off of the handler line. The video is shot looking through jump 1 and down towards jump 2. And so we should see you more/less between the left upright (from the video perspective) of jump 1 and the far upright of jump 2. But what we actually see in the video is that you are way outside of that line. I bet you're thinking about your next move- about getting in a good position for the cross into jump 3. I can understand that, especially with such fast dogs. But what you have really done is allowed Odin to jump wide through 1, and put you behind at jump 2 as you correct the wide jump at 1. Stay on the handler line, and it will put you ahead in the end! I couldn't believe it myself, but I watched handlers of some _VERY_ fast BCs doing just that. Stay on the line; be ahead. Go off the line; fall behind.

Awesome stuff! I'm looking forward to more videos of your great dogs! I'm not sure if you created a thread in the Introduction forum, but I'd like to read more about you and your dogs. How long have you been doing agility? How old are your dogs? Have you been training them for agility since puppies? Do you do any other dog sports? Etc, etc.


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## KristiM (Oct 18, 2011)

Thanks wildo! 

Okay I see what you mean about how far I am off the line....you are right I am thinking too far ahead. I need to practice my position on start lines, I think my timing was OK on the other crosses but the start looked and felt very choppy. I have had a few choppy starts in trials like this too, so it's really good to know that I am starting off the line. Sometimes it takes another set of eyes

I will have to do an intro thread, never even thought of it


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Congrats on even getting the videos up!! Think you are having a problem I usually have with a helper. They are doing a great job of showing the dog, but since (as the handler) I'm usually the one with the problems, I need the video of myself AND the dog.

I know what I struggle with in my timing, is telling my dog a turn is coming BEFORE they are committed and take off for the jump. I tend to do it when they are in midair or landing, which is too late. If I can cue them early, they will get out of extension, into collection, on the correct lead and make a smooth tight turn.


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