# Agility course of the week #6



## mahhi22 (Jul 14, 2009)

Ok, I’m a super novice to agility & when Wildo emailed to say it was my turn to post a course I kinda freaked. I can barely run a course that’s already set up much less design one! Well thank God for the internet. I found a jumper course that looks super simple & will work for my skill level. My apologies that it won’t be a challenge to you more experienced agility folks.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Looks like a fun and fast course!


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

That looks great! However, there are just a few rules about the course of the week club. Not everyone has 12 physical jumps. 

...Oh nevermind. Too bad. There has been such little participation in this whole thing anyway, go ahead and run with this course. I have 12 bar jumps. I'll participate. 

But technically, you should maybe try to find an alternative sequence that fits these guidelines:


> At this point, sequences should be limited to using only this equipment:
> 
> 4 or less bar jumps (winged or wingless)
> 1 tunnel
> ...


Note that the tire jump can be interchanged with a bar jump. So a course with five bar jumps should still do just fine.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

And to anyone who cares- I sent a PM to both AgileGSD and NWHeather letting them know it was their turn. Neither replied. So after some time, I moved forward in the list bringing us to mahhi22.


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## TaraM1285 (Sep 24, 2009)

wildo said:


> ...Oh nevermind. Too bad. There has been such little participation in this whole thing anyway, go ahead and run with this course. I have 12 bar jumps. I'll participate.


:blush: I've fallen completely off the wagon in the course of the week. I'm so sorry.  I'm struggling with whether I'm even going to pursue agility with Tara outside of a few private lessons here and there and playing in the yard. Completely OT, but wanted to apologize for not continuing to "play".


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

There's certainly no reason to apologize, Kristin! Nobody is under any obligation. Sending you a PM about Tara...


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

mahhi22 said:


> Ok, I’m a super novice to agility & when Wildo emailed to say it was my turn to post a course I kinda freaked. I can barely run a course that’s already set up much less design one! Well thank God for the internet. I found a jumper course that looks super simple & will work for my skill level.


HEY, I've been running in agility for years and freaked out when wildo told me it was my turn too! :wub:  :wub:



> My apologies that it won’t be a challenge to you more experienced agility folks.


Don't worry about that either, any new course/exercise has its own set of challenges!


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

mahhi22- I wonder if you would welcome a slight adaption on your course map, one that allows it to fit in our backyards, meets the requirements of only having a few jumps to play with, and maintains the same feel as the course you posted?

I've adapted your course to this:











 It maintains the speed on the start line through the weaves up through jump 4 on the original.
It maintains the serpentine 4-5-6 from the original.
It maintains the right turn through 7-8-9-10 on the original by turning it into a pinwheel.
It adds the requirement that you can do a pinwheel in both directions by making you run the pinwheel backwards.
It adds the jump wrap skill at jump #6 on the new map, which is a very simple jump wrap.
It maintains the off-course jumps at #7 and #12 on the new map.

I think it more/less maintains the openness and feel of the original, maintains the difficulty of off course jumps, serpentines, and pinwheels, and adds the requirement that you can do those things in the opposite direction.

You don't have to accept the modification; I just realized that there's no chance I can fit an 80' by 90' full course in my backyard.


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## mahhi22 (Jul 14, 2009)

wildo said:


> mahhi22- I wonder if you would welcome a slight adaption on your course map, one that allows it to fit in our backyards, meets the requirements of only having a few jumps to play with, and maintains the same feel as the course you posted?


No worries Wildo. I wasn't "attached" to the course I posted. Any improvements gratefully accepted.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Well... it's an improvement only in that it fits in my backyard!  The full course looks fun and fast!


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

It was a beautiful weekend! The ground was still pretty soft from a crazy storm Thursday night, but I was able to setup this sequence and run it anyway. Notice that I set it up REALLY open with lots of room between the obstacles. This provided some interesting challenges in cueing the turns tightly. Overall, pretty fun!


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## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

Great job. It was interesting to see you do a fc at jump 8 and then rc. My instructor sets up courses so tight so I have to practice courses that have distance in my back yard because they are two totally different things.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

The FC/RC between 7 and 8 were on purpose. One thing I learned about speeding up a pinwheel is that when you remain on the inside and post turn the whole thing, YOU slow down. You have to: you're on a shorter radius and your dog and so you must slow down in order to keep beside your dog. For many dogs, they key in on your reduced speed and slow down themselves. One way to counter act this is for YOU to move more. Thus the FC/RC. It causes me to put more motion into the pinwheel and therefore doesn't slow my dog like a normal post turn would. This also controlled Pimg's line there which was important since she had so much room to cover from 6 back to 7. It's really easy for her to jump in extension at 7 if I'm not soon enough on my collection cue. The FC makes collection very apparent and controls the line.

Granted, I did use a post turn for the pinwheel at 3-4-5. Had I thought I bit harder about it, I almost certainly would have front crossed near 5. This would have given me more speed towards 5, which I found I needed to support anyway.

In watching the final run in the video, I also noticed I was off the handler line for the final front cross between 10 and 11-- and wouldn't you know it, Pimg turned wide there. I didn't spot that until now, and would have re-run it had I noticed.


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## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

wildo said:


> The FC/RC between 7 and 8 were on purpose. One thing I learned about speeding up a pinwheel is that when you remain on the inside and post turn the whole thing, YOU slow down. You have to: you're on a shorter radius and your dog and so you must slow down in order to keep beside your dog. For many dogs, they key in on your reduced speed and slow down themselves. One way to counter act this is for YOU to move more. Thus the FC/RC. It causes me to put more motion into the pinwheel and therefore doesn't slow my dog like a normal post turn would. This also controlled Pimg's line there which was important since she had so much room to cover from 6 back to 7. It's really easy for her to jump in extension at 7 if I'm not soon enough on my collection cue. The FC makes collection very apparent and controls the line.
> .


Interesting... I will have to try that out and see how that works with Jerry Lee.


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## KristiM (Oct 18, 2011)

I opted to run the first course posted, minus a couple of jumps (and the video cut off the weave poles.) I don't actually have any of my own equipment, I do a drop in at a barn a couple times per week so space/equipment isn't as much of an issue.

I think the jumps he "took out" were because of his tail, the jumps are really flimsy and if you blow on them hard enough they knock over.





 


The jumps were down to 8" in this one, we had done a few other things and he was getting pretty tired. I had a hard time keeping a good handler line for the first front cross, but in this run it felt pretty smooth.






 
Handling critiques are always welcome


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I just started agility with mine today She is good with the jumps, the tire, and the tunnel. What is the best way to teach the teeter, the dog walk(is that what that is called), and the weave poles? Should I concentrate on one at a time until she gets it down or should I do a little of all of them? Thanks!!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

llombardo said:


> I just started agility with mine today She is good with the jumps, the tire, and the tunnel. What is the best way to teach the teeter, the dog walk(is that what that is called), and the weave poles? Should I concentrate on one at a time until she gets it down or should I do a little of all of them? Thanks!!


THere are alot of safety considerations plus foundation skills involved with both equipment and handling that are best worked thru with classes or an agility club. When you join and start training they should get you started off so it's safe and progresses best for both handler and dog.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Good videos, Kristi! Thanks for posting!

NADAC does not use a tire, rather they use hoops right? I think your dog either ran around or under the tire in both videos, but I couldn't tell completely. This is understandable if you don't ever see the tire.

I think you may have omitted jump 7/13 which I bring up because I think I'd be tempted to FC between 12 and 13 rather than 11 and 12. Yes, I see the off course directly ahead of 11, but I really wonder how much at play it would be. I mean- it IS 20' away, and my body position would be well inside the circle. I'm not sure a seasoned dog would be too tempted by that off course. I might well be wrong though. I keep looking at the course map and can't decide. I think it's one of those decisions that you make as your walking it- "do I FC between 11/12 or 12/13?"

Now your dog really has a remarkable forward send! If you set that course up to scale, then that circle (6-7-8-9-10-11) spans a whopping 40' between 8 and 11. I know I don't have a 40' send on my dog, so there's little question that I'd be running the circle. That's the reason I keep going back to a potential FC between 12/13 instead. In the end, it really might not matter. I will say that from the course map, the handler is covering more distance (typically a bad thing) if you FC between 11/12 because now your on the outside of an inside turn- you have to run around 12 in order to cue 13. Eh... It might not matter.

I thought your FC at 4 looked good! You were definitely well outside the handler line, but your dog saved your but. Odin turned sharp off of 4 into 5 in spite of the fact that you weren't really cueing a tight turn. I think, again, this in big part to your really great forward send. It also allowed you to get a bit more ahead, though I really don't think you'd be much behind if you did tighten up your line. The difference is minute, but your tighter line causes a tighter line in your dog. Those milliseconds saved might just be the difference between first and second place.

Really nice stuff! I wish I had room to run the whole course!


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

MaggieRoseLee said:


> THere are alot of safety considerations plus foundation skills involved with both equipment and handling that are best worked thru with classes or an agility club. When you join and start training they should get you started off so it's safe and progresses best for both handler and dog.


I will be the first to admit that I don't know squat about agility,but I'm willing to learn I guess I want to know these things so I can determine if the instructor knows what they are doing or if I should look elsewhere. I liked her and we did the standing on the board for a while to get the dog used to the narrowness, which I thought was a very good idea. She worked well with my dog, but she kept telling her Good Boy


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## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

wildo said:


> Good videos, Kristi! Thanks for posting!
> 
> NADAC does not use a tire, rather they use hoops right?


That is correct, Nadac does not have tire, chute or teeter. The A-frame is lower and I think the dogwalk is to. 

Good job on the run Kristi!

We have a cold front coming today so I should be able to get out and run it in the next couple of days.


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## KristiM (Oct 18, 2011)

Lol, I didn't have a tire or a hoop set up I think it was a low set jump that you guys are referring to? Right after the weave poles? I REALLY doubt that I could have made it to a fc between 12/13. The thing that I liked about this course is you kind of HAVE to have a really good send to get around that circle and be able to do a front cross. It is a lot more similar to what I would see at a trial. I think my fc's in general need a bit more work, which I didn't really realize until trying some of these courses and posting some videos, so thanks guys! Odin will be happy that my handling is getting there.

No, NADAC does not have a tire anymore, the A frame is a bit lower and no teeter the dog walk is the same height.(I am not a huge fan of the new rules, but there are lots of NADAC trials around here so WTH.) I actually don't mind the hoops, they make for VERY FAST courses. If you can't tell I'm all about SPEED


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

llombardo said:


> I will be the first to admit that I don't know squat about agility,but I'm willing to learn I guess I want to know these things so I can determine if the instructor knows what they are doing or if I should look elsewhere. I liked her and we did the standing on the board for a while to get the dog used to the narrowness, which I thought was a very good idea. She worked well with my dog, but she kept telling her Good Boy


Probably most training is like this, but I know agility has tons of 'you don't know what you don't know' type things involved. 

One way I use to determine if an instructor is good is that they go to agility trials and have reached some higher levels with at least one dog. It doesn't matter what type of agility, NADAC, USDAA, AKC or whatever. But to reach those levels means you at least got a good basis in what's involved in all aspects of the sport.

There are tons of DVD's and books, but I use those in conjunction with weekly classes, not instead of.


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## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

Here is my course 6. Had fun with this one. Ran it with Jerry Lee out of my comfort zone and was very pleased with how he did. Will have to practice more of this type of handling with him.


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## KristiM (Oct 18, 2011)

They both looked really good! It's great to practice outside of your comfort zone sometimes. That's why I like the "course of the week" so much, I would never think to run a lot of these courses on my own


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## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

Thanks Kristi, Yes the Course of the Week was a great idea and I had fun doing it. It was great to see others with GSD's run the same course and get different ideas on running the course. There were lots of things I wouldn't have thought of trying and I was able to go back to the course and try it a different way.



KristiM said:


> They both looked really good! It's great to practice outside of your comfort zone sometimes. That's why I like the "course of the week" so much, I would never think to run a lot of these courses on my own


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