# Agility in the rain- hard!!



## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Daisy Peel just had a little give away for her subscribers: four very small blind cross sequences (check her FB wall for the link). They looked really fun and I really wanted to try them- but alas- it's raining! Oh well, I decided to try it anyway with pretty lack luster results! :rofl:

It was fun, but probably not a very good idea. Very slippery and we were both slow as molasses. We'll try this again in the DAY when it's DRY! hahaha


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## KristiM (Oct 18, 2011)

Agility in the rain does suck! Odins first outdoor trial it was pouring the whole day, I lost count of how many times he landed on his face. 

I am curious about blind crosses, I can definitely see their use but I was always taught and have always taught my dogs to never cross behind me. I have done a lot of the Susan garrett anti blind cross drills with my dogs. The other day I was running a sequence and did a blind cross as Odin was coming out of a tunnel and then right after he cut behind me on a different sequence and again yesterday he cut behind me! He seems to think that since I broke the rule it's free game now lol. So does it get confusing when you start to introduce blind crosses? And how do you make it clear to only cross behind by a certain cue? And even if you do teach them to only cross behind on that cue are they not more likely to cross behind when they shouldn't?


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

I have no answers to any of your questions! haha! I dabble in blind cross drills every now and again, but I have the advantage of not really ever training "anti-blind cross" drills. In general, I want to be handling Pimg from the front via front crosses. An occasional rear cross here and there...

There are two things that interest me about the blind cross:
1) My knees are total crap. The lack of rotation on my could very well save MY agility career! hahahahaha!
2) If I have time for a front cross, then I probably have plenty of time for a blind cross. I assume my dog is smart enough to pick up on whatever hand I am signaling with, and whatever side my head is looking back at them with. In the end, if my dog has enough obstacle focus and I've done my job as a handler to provide their route information early- then I suspect the dog probably doesn't much care about which side of my body I'm signaling from. 

Another point- the people who are "bringing back" the blind cross (assuming it really did actually go away for a bit) are all saying that you never BC when the route would be ambiguous to the dog. Blind cross on a straight line should be pretty clear to the dog.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Anyway here's the same drill, in the day light, without the rain! :rofl:


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## KristiM (Oct 18, 2011)

Looks good. I think I like the front cross better and I think that if you are doing a front cross you might feel a little less like you are standing there doing nothing while she is taking jump 1,2,3. It looks like you have to boogey a little more (when you aren't doing the rear cross) to get the blind cross, you can't really start getting into position as she takes the top jump like you could with a front cross. Although I have to admit the blind cross was pretty smooth. A good tool to have if you ever need it. Maybe one day I will give it a shot, right now I have way too much other stuff to be working on.

I hear ya on the knees! I had acl reconstruction a few years ago and all the twisting and turning in agility can be pretty tough on not so good knees


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

I'm down just shy of thirty pounds from four months ago so that is helping a bit. But I still feel like Gimly when I run. My body is just NOT made for speed, and especially not made for ballerina pirouettes! I'm thinking that with training, the blind cross may be more effective for me and Pimg as her speed continues to increase. And I find the blind cross to be just as thrilling when that bit of doubt sets in about if you are going to get there in time-- just like with a front cross.

Like I said though, I really believe that with properly trained forward focus, a well placed blind cross should be almost transparent to the dog. The dog should already be thinking "jump ahead! jump ahead!" So if you change sides right there, the dog should continue on. I don't think I could ever do a blind cross where it would leave my dog's path ambiguous. That wouldn't be smart or fair.


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