# What is a jump?



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

my trainers have us do it in our agility classes. 
It can backfire, though. In training him for the utility level of obedience, I couldn't figure out why he couldn't deal with "go out". Finally it hit me like a ton of bricks...he's used to being told to "go ____" (go tire, go tunnel, go jump, etc). and he was looking for "out". Poor guy couldn't figure out what an "out" was and where he was supposed to find one to go to!
So now I've changed it to "run out" and he does just fine!


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## MaddieMagoo (Aug 14, 2007)

I think this is a great question!

Now that I think of it, our trainer, who runs the class, also uses the "get out" command with her BC. I use it with Maddie and I worked for like 15-20 minutes in the yard and she caught on within that time! She can go from a jump to the weaves, and have it be a different entry everytime. I would work real slow with the BC, but you'd think the dog would know???

There are a few people around here who do distance work....but don't always have clean runs...I know that there is a Golden, I was working at a trial one day, this lady had to be in her upper 40's and she did A LOT of distance work...the dog was fast, paying attention, but was almost too hyper and knocked bars..etc. I guess distance work isn't for every dog. IMO....lol.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

I think very few people actually *teach* the dog to work independently. Most of the time, the dog's idea of "knowing" somthing is wrapped up in WAY more context than the handler realizes. The BC in question, for example, only knows to take the jump when the owner is moving toward it, etc.

Weaves are a great oppty. to see that. Think yoru dog knows to weave? Have him enter the polls and don't go with him. Stand there and see what he does. A lot of dogs will start weaving and then stop mid-way through b/c the handler isn't moving along with them!


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## hawtee (Nov 1, 2006)

Yes on the BC, he thought his dog knew the equipment when all along he (bc)was just following the leader (handler). He(bc) is now learning to move away from the handler 
Smart pup who is already catching on very quickly!
When I taught(and still reminding her lol) Lilli to independently weave from me no matter where I was, I did the clock, evil entries, layering, walking toward her, spinning around her and playing with her favorite toys, eating as she was going and throwing her frisbee, she knew she had to find the entry and get the last pole. Actually I do this on all the equipment. May main concern was I wanted her to know the equipment and if I asked her for it she "got it"..
what I am seeing a lot of today at trials (in my area) are people who are in such a rush to start trialing that a lot of groundwork seems to be missing and then when they do run they cannot understand why their dog is unsure of itself and they blame their dog...


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## katieanddusty (Feb 9, 2006)

It's probably not the case with this particular team, but these days a lot of people actually don't want to be able to just stand there and have the dog run around ignoring their body position/movement (since motion-based handling styles/systems are a lot more popular, and other than USDAA most of the more distance-focused organizations are not). When you're mostly using deceleration and handler position to cue collection, it's not a good idea to dilute that by teaching verbals that ask your dog to ignore your motion.

Boo could probably do a jump just on a verbal command from within maybe 15 feet, but I don't see why I wouldn't give appropriate support with at least a hand signal and step toward the jump. And he'd better wrap real tight around that jump and come back to me since I'm standing still on the takeoff side. Without a step or hand signal Dusty would probably just stand there wondering what was going on ... but he's the one with legs in Masters and Elite Gamblers. I had to really capitalize on his momentum and move as much as I could from behind the line, but it worked out.

But weaves and contacts should be independent - I'll give enough support that the dog sees the obstacle, but once that happens the dog needs to commit and complete the obstacle. Staying behind, running way ahead, veering off to the side to get into position for the next sequence, layering, anything.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I have a degenerative muscle disease and agility is very hard for me. So any distance I can get is a BIG plus.....we work on it a lot!


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## hawtee (Nov 1, 2006)

No, I would never suggest to ignore the verbal or body signals..Good Lord I would have a spactic red head if I did that lol..I do a lot of distance with her because I can not be there and trust me I am using every part of me body and cueing as much as I can lol..

What I was referring to is when he sat his dog in front of the jump and stayed where he was but still gave a verbal and a signal, the dog had no clue. yet if he went with him the dog would take the jump. That was what surprised me..


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## hawtee (Nov 1, 2006)

hotel4dogs said:


> Finally it hit me like a ton of bricks...he's used to being told to "go ____" (go tire, go tunnel, go jump, etc). and he was looking for "out". Poor guy couldn't figure out what an "out" was and where he was supposed to find one to go to!


Boy do I understand this one lol. Many moons ago and with my first agility dog I quickly learned to drop the "go" it started at the lovely table when the judge would do 5&4&3&2&1& Gooooo.. the go was so long he took off like a bat on the first go, word never completely left her mouth before he was off like a rocket..:doh:


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

funny, now that you mention it I have no clue why I use the word "GO" before each obstacle. Weird. Why not just say, "tire", "table", etc.
GO figure!




hawtee said:


> Boy do I understand this one lol. Many moons ago and with my first agility dog I quickly learned to drop the "go" it started at the lovely table when the judge would do 5&4&3&2&1& Gooooo.. the go was so long he took off like a bat on the first go, word never completely left her mouth before he was off like a rocket..:doh:


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

I have found I depend mostly on body language for my dogs. For me it seems like my brain is going a million miles and hour and I have been known to mix up obstacle names. The only time I really want my dogs to ignore my body language is in the weaves or contacts. Other than that the body cues are what my dogs fall back on. 

I was talking to another competitor about a course this weekend and she was going to rear cross a jump while sending in a straight line to a tunnel. I said there is no way I could do that as my dogs always read a rear cross as a cue to collect and turn. She said well don’t they know “go on”? They do, but that rear cross means more to them than anything that comes out of my mouth.

But I guess that is the fun of agility. Every team trains a little differently and no two dogs are the same. I love watching all the different way people run courses.

And one really fun thing to try, running a whole course without saying anything!


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

I don't teach a stationary "go ahead of me and take that jump in front of you" - mostly because of obedience- utility go outs are stationary - don't take the jumps on the way out. That being said, I have a lot of distance on my obstacles - including an out and a go. I can send them through the weaves while hanging back - but it's not in my handling plan to have my dogs continue moving when I stop. I may slow down- but if I stop I want my dog to stop. I can send them as far as I want them to but I need to keep moving if I want them to take the obstacle. I've taught them to weave independently. Probably the only obstacle they'll take with me stationary is the weaves, because I want them both to understand it's not about what I do (mostly because I don't want to have to be consistent in the weaves - If I want to break off and use the weaves to get positioned for the next obstacle I want my dog to stay committed to the entire set of weaves...

Erica


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## katieanddusty (Feb 9, 2006)

sammydog said:


> I was talking to another competitor about a course this weekend and she was going to rear cross a jump while sending in a straight line to a tunnel. I said there is no way I could do that as my dogs always read a rear cross as a cue to collect and turn. She said well don’t they know “go on”? They do, but that rear cross means more to them than anything that comes out of my mouth.


That's what I was trying to refer to - I feel like it will eventually dilute the power of the rear cross to have it sometimes mean collect/turn and sometimes tell the dog to ignore it. So then when they actually mean the rear cross they also have to yell at their dog. Not cool.


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

katieanddusty said:


> That's what I was trying to refer to - I feel like it will eventually dilute the power of the rear cross to have it sometimes mean collect/turn and sometimes tell the dog to ignore it. So then when they actually mean the rear cross they also have to yell at their dog. Not cool.


I absolutly agree. I think that is the power of following a handling system. I always use crosses as a cue to collect and turn. If my dogs see me going for either a front or rear cross they know they are turning. They don’t need to think about it. I think the more you can make agility black/white for your dog, the easier life is for both teammates.


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## MaddieMagoo (Aug 14, 2007)

About the running through the course without saying anything...is hard! I think I've done that at class once!! We even had to put our arms away....and no hand usage...just upper and lower body...and WOW! It was hard, challenging, yet FUN! Maddie did really well that time and it was cool...I wish I could do that more often! lol.


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

MaddieMagoo said:


> About the running through the course without saying anything...is hard! I think I've done that at class once!! We even had to put our arms away....and no hand usage...just upper and lower body...and WOW! It was hard, challenging, yet FUN! Maddie did really well that time and it was cool...I wish I could do that more often! lol.


I almost always run silently - I do use verbals when I want emphasis (contacts usually and then a verbal to go weave - usually given the obstacle before the weaves)...All the folks running around "over", "over", "over", "over", "BIG JUMP", "over"...I tune them out - their dogs do too...If I was using a lot of verbals I'd probably use the wrong verbals so I keep my mouth shut. The boys know their jobs, I just have to keep out of the way!
Erica


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I haven't found it to be an issue. "Run out" and "Go jump" are 2 completely different commands, in 2 completely different venues, given with totally different body language and signals. For the obedience go outs I give him a "mark" to the wall or ring gate before the judge says, "are you ready". Then he knows what's coming next.
This of course after I stopped saying "Go out" for the go outs, when he would just sort of wander looking for an "out" to go to!





MurphyTeller said:


> I don't teach a stationary "go ahead of me and take that jump in front of you" - mostly because of obedience- utility go outs are stationary - don't take the jumps on the way out. That being said, I have a lot of distance on my obstacles - including an out and a go. I can send them through the weaves while hanging back - but it's not in my handling plan to have my dogs continue moving when I stop. I may slow down- but if I stop I want my dog to stop. I can send them as far as I want them to but I need to keep moving if I want them to take the obstacle. I've taught them to weave independently. Probably the only obstacle they'll take with me stationary is the weaves, because I want them both to understand it's not about what I do (mostly because I don't want to have to be consistent in the weaves - If I want to break off and use the weaves to get positioned for the next obstacle I want my dog to stay committed to the entire set of weaves...
> 
> Erica


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Even though obedience is my focus with Tally, agility class is great brain training/fun. We're absolute dolts at agility, and my goldens don't have the orthopedics to do it seriously but more as intelligence training. We do structured Go Outs in obedience, but learning Ready Steady games and send over jumps in agility is really helpful with confidence and style. Tally can be sent over with me stationary. I originally learned so send Tango and Tally"out" when they were babies too little to jump yet. The took "puppy" prenovice agility and learned to target margin tub tops, and then to target the lids further and further away, between cavelletti poles too. Right now, Tally is taking Fundementals of Agility Part II, lol. It's easy to send him over jumps ahead of me. The hard thing for him is keeping his eyes forward looking bc he is so overtrained to heel precisely and give me his attention at all times. We've played a bazillion "choose to Heel" games, and he is expecting to be called front or to heel more than to look for three or four obstacles in s row. Sending him over jumps from both the right and left side is good for him and challenging. He knows OVER as a jump command and "go-go out" as a go out command. Tally understands the concept of going out and first learned it in the field with a whistle blast to turn and sit.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

In keeping with what you're saying, I think a lot of times we don't give our dogs credit for what they're capable of learning and doing.
Tito was about 16 months old when I first started training him in conformation. Lots of people told me not to, it would RUIN his obedience. Ok, he's about 27 months now and showing in Utility. Where's the ruination??? And doing well in conformation, too, so not ruined there, either....
We're dolts at agility, too, but he could probably be shown in Novice preferred now. He doesn't ever seem to confuse obedience/conformation/agility, except for the occasional sit when he thinks the conf. judge wants him to "front" if the judge offers his hands as if there's a treat in them and pulls them toward his/her body. 
The "hard core" obedience people warned me not to do agility with him, either....said it would totally ruin his obedience. I've seen the opposite, I think the 2 sports really help each other. Agility truly builds the confidence that dogs need to work away from you when you start doing obedience at the Utility level.
I plan to do field work with him, and tracking. We're dock diving now, too. I think these gold dogs are simply amazing animals, and I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here!




Ljilly28 said:


> Even though obedience is my focus with Tally, agility class is great brain training/fun. We're absolute dolts at agility, and my goldens don't have the orthopedics to do it seriously but more as intelligence training. We do structured Go Outs in obedience, but learning Ready Steady games and send over jumps in agility is really helpful with confidence and style. Tally can be sent over with me stationary. I originally learned so send Tango and Tally"out" when they were babies too little to jump yet. The took "puppy" prenovice agility and learned to target margin tub tops, and then to target the lids further and further away, between cavelletti poles too. Right now, Tally is taking Fundementals of Agility Part II, lol. It's easy to send him over jumps ahead of me. The hard thing for him is keeping his eyes forward looking bc he is so overtrained to heel precisely and give me his attention at all times. We've played a bazillion "choose to Heel" games, and he is expecting to be called front or to heel more than to look for three or four obstacles in s row. Sending him over jumps from both the right and left side is good for him and challenging. He knows OVER as a jump command and "go-go out" as a go out command. Tally understands the concept of going out and first learned it in the field with a whistle blast to turn and sit.


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> I haven't found it to be an issue. "Run out" and "Go jump" are 2 completely different commands, in 2 completely different venues, given with totally different body language and signals. For the obedience go outs I give him a "mark" to the wall or ring gate before the judge says, "are you ready". Then he knows what's coming next.
> This of course after I stopped saying "Go out" for the go outs, when he would just sort of wander looking for an "out" to go to!


So you teach a stationary "take the jump ahead of you" for agility? Or are you moving (even slightly) and asking him to "go jump"? I don't ever expect to need stationary "go ahead of me" cues in agility - I might not moving fast in certain circumstances but I'm moving. When I stop and/or move another direction it's a cue for them not to take what's ahead of them....I'm more Linda Mecklenburg than Greg Derrett 

Erica


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

I want to get there with my dogs. Belle my lab was taught to stay close to me, then we started agility. Now she is a VELCRO dog. She (and I) are improving, and I am starting to be able to send her short distances and do some layering, but I would like to do more. It would make my life easier. I also compete in UKC and she is AGIII level now and must work some obstacles at 6' away. I don't think the weaves are going to be an issue, but distance at the pause obstacle? I don't like that, and I think it will be VERY hard for me to train Belle.

My young golden Teddi she is still insecure at agility just not enough training yet so I have to stay right there with her. She is fast though and will be faster as she gains confidence. So I really want to teach her distance. I plan to start throwing toys and using targets to help me. 

These are my first two agility dogs, both very different. I hope to learn a lot and better myself and improve my techniques on later dogs. Watching a person run a dog with good distance work is AMAZING!! My trainer as a blistering fast sheltie, and she MUST put distance on this dog to run her. It is just beautiful to watch. 

Any tips on training "GO" do some thing is GREATLY appreciated.


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## Maxs Mom (Mar 22, 2008)

One more thing with my lab, since she is the dog I am trialing. I do not call obstacles as we run for the most part, she does what is in front of her, I only do if it is NOT the obstacle in front of her, or to let her know the weaves are coming so she can collect herself. Recently (the past few months) I have been able to say "go jump" (or whatever) and get her to that obstacle while I move to a new position. At the same time our rear crosses have improved (she was too velcro for a long time) and we have found she LOVES blind crosses if the opportunity presents itself. They speed her up. 

It has been fun to see her improve in the knick of time too! We moved up to excellent B (jumpers and standard) early this year. I was so worried about making time with her, but now that she is there she has been consistently under time. All these things are improving, so much fun!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

yes, I teach a totally stationary "go jump". I also do a moving jump, but we work very hard on me standing totally still and pointing and giving a command. 




MurphyTeller said:


> So you teach a stationary "take the jump ahead of you" for agility? Or are you moving (even slightly) and asking him to "go jump"? I don't ever expect to need stationary "go ahead of me" cues in agility - I might not moving fast in certain circumstances but I'm moving. When I stop and/or move another direction it's a cue for them not to take what's ahead of them....I'm more Linda Mecklenburg than Greg Derrett
> 
> Erica


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> yes, I teach a totally stationary "go jump". I also do a moving jump, but we work very hard on me standing totally still and pointing and giving a command.


Now I'm curious...Do you expect to run into a situation on course where you are completely stationary? I guess I don't understand why a lack of movement - ie, you stop on course would ever (should ever) be a cue to your dog to take the obstacle(s) ahead of him.

If you have trained a stationary send - how do you then indicate to a dog that is ahead of you - laterally even - that you need him to stop forward motion and turn. In other words if you train a take that obstacle despite lack of motion/ignore that the handler has stopped - what do you use when you need to communicate a stop/read my body/we're going this way?

Erica


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## katieanddusty (Feb 9, 2006)

MurphyTeller said:


> I don't ever expect to need stationary "go ahead of me" cues in agility - I might not moving fast in certain circumstances but I'm moving. When I stop and/or move another direction it's a cue for them not to take what's ahead of them....I'm more Linda Mecklenburg than Greg Derrett


Same here, although I also worked some with Greg Derrett a long time ago and can't imagine him stopping and using a "go on" either (enough to get behind the dog for a smooth rear cross in the rare instance he does a rear cross, yes, but that's still moving). I think most of the people who really rely on verbal go-ons and distance without much motion are NADAC types, and there's a reason why you don't see either Linda Mecklenburg or any of the well-known Derrett followers doing NADAC, or many primarily-NADAC people doing really well in AKC or USDAA.



> If you have trained a stationary send - how do you then indicate to a dog that is ahead of you - laterally even - that you need him to stop forward motion and turn. In other words if you train a take that obstacle despite lack of motion/ignore that the handler has stopped - what do you use when you need to communicate a stop/read my body/we're going this way?


Typically, you yell. You also might use the opposite arm and lateral motion to cue a turn toward you if you're more Mecklenburg inclined, or a really sharp shoulder turn. But there's almost always yelling.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I do it because, as I said, I have a degenerative muscle disease that prevents me from doing very much running. It's surely not an ideal situation, and one of the main reasons I don't trial him. I don't think it would work past novice, and not sure it would even work in an actual trial in novice. Just in our training, it works fine for us.
We're okay as long as the obstacles are different. So I can yell (yes, there's a lot of yelling involved) go jump, go table, go tire, etc. That hopefully gives me enough time to position myself for the next 3 or 4 obstacles, which in novice tend to be rather well lined up anyway.
If there are successive jumps, I use "jump it, jump it, jump it" and then I use "around" for when he's supposed to wrap an obstacle. I use a lot of "here" and "come" to get him back toward me. So some jumps would be "go jump" whereas others are "come jump". But where we run into a problem is something like 4 jumps in a row, and he's only supposed to jump 3 of them. It's surely not a perfect system. But it does work well for some parts of the course, and gives me enough time to get to the next "chunk" of course. I don't just stand in one place and shout out the entire course, I use it for pieces of the course. Picture 3 jumps in a row followed by a tunnel, for example. If I can stand before the first jump and tell him "jump it, jump it, jump it, go tunnel" I can be to the end of the tunnel and ready to head him into the next portion of the course. I'm not sure I'm explaining this very well.
I'm not nearly as proficient as you guys are, that's for sure. Just a novice playing with it, and one of the things I really like to do is to see how much my dog can do without me running next to him. There's an older woman who runs tervs where we train, she's rather crippled up, and she can run them almost the entire course (not novice) without moving more than a few feet herself. I'd LOVE to get to that point some day, not that I ever will. It's amazing to see. She uses "right" and "left", too, something I haven't dared to try because I'm sure I'd be yelling out the wrong one or trying to figure out if it's MY left of the dog's left....


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## katieanddusty (Feb 9, 2006)

Yeah, there are a lot of people who do well with that kind of handling, and sending the dog somewhere to get into position for the next part of the course is very common, but there's still more support from the handler's motion than just standing there. At least most people who are mobility-challenged in some way are still moving as fast as they can. And I definitely don't consider it optimal or worth training for handlers who can get there to support their dog with their motion.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Please remember that I have never trialed him in agility, and quite likely never will due to my lack of ability. We just mess with it for fun, which is nothing like what you or MurphyTeller do. What I'm talking about here is what we do in practice, which I'm sure you know bears little resemblance in most sports to what happens in an actual trial. I work very hard on standing completely still and sending him as far as I can without moving my feet at all. I also have him do a LONG stay on each contact at the end of an obstacle so I can position myself. Again, not something that would work in a trial! 
I'm sure your method is ultimately much better, which is why you have an entire alphabet of agility titles, whereas we have none 



katieanddusty said:


> Yeah, there are a lot of people who do well with that kind of handling, and sending the dog somewhere to get into position for the next part of the course is very common, but there's still more support from the handler's motion than just standing there. At least most people who are mobility-challenged in some way are still moving as fast as they can. And I definitely don't consider it optimal or worth training for handlers who can get there to support their dog with their motion.


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## hawtee (Nov 1, 2006)

hotel4dogs, I think you should give it a try. I have known many "teams" in my area who have beat the odds. They have been in wheelchairs, 2 crutches, dragging a foot and one awesome lady with no arms. They are so inspiring to watch because not only of their disabilities but because of the connection with their dogs..
Now have I ever stood in one place and tell my dog to take jumps, oh yeah. It was when I sported a brand new hugh,bulky knee brace. I sent her down a line of 4 jumps into the op. end of the tunnel and I was in the location I needed to be for the exit of the tunnel lol.. And yes this was an ex. course. Did I expect to have to do that, well nooo, I did not expect to have the brace on. Injured myself 2 days before a big trial..
I am thankful that I taught her to do this. I did not expect to ever have to use it hopefully I will never have to again but if I do I know she can do it..lol.


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> Please remember that I have never trialed him in agility, and quite likely never will due to my lack of ability. We just mess with it for fun, which is nothing like what you or MurphyTeller do. What I'm talking about here is what we do in practice, which I'm sure you know bears little resemblance in most sports to what happens in an actual trial. I work very hard on standing completely still and sending him as far as I can without moving my feet at all. I also have him do a LONG stay on each contact at the end of an obstacle so I can position myself. Again, not something that would work in a trial!
> I'm sure your method is ultimately much better, which is why you have an entire alphabet of agility titles, whereas we have none


Not too many years ago (maybe 2) one of the local "stars" of the sport - world team member, right up there in USDAA national standings, etc tore her crutiate. She runs border collies - FAST border collies. So after I heard that I was surprised to see her entered the following weekend - but there she was - hobbling around - and I mean hobbling - leaving her dogs at the start, going to the middle of the course and basically directing her dogs around course. They made mistakes - and didn't often qualify but she did move slightly the entire time - it wasn't totally stationary - it was impressive.

Some of the NADAC folks are fun to watch with their layering and distance - but in my observation a lot of them lack the finesse that the above woman had - yelling and gesturing wildly might add a super Q - but it doesn't look smooth or efficient.

Erica


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Thanks for the pep talk, Pam. I might get brave some day and try it. What I'd really like to do is find a junior handler who might be interested in running him....



hawtee said:


> hotel4dogs, I think you should give it a try. I have known many "teams" in my area who have beat the odds. They have been in wheelchairs, 2 crutches, dragging a foot and one awesome lady with no arms. They are so inspiring to watch because not only of their disabilities but because of the connection with their dogs..
> Now have I ever stood in one place and tell my dog to take jumps, oh yeah. It was when I sported a brand new hugh,bulky knee brace. I sent her down a line of 4 jumps into the op. end of the tunnel and I was in the location I needed to be for the exit of the tunnel lol.. And yes this was an ex. course. Did I expect to have to do that, well nooo, I did not expect to have the brace on. Injured myself 2 days before a big trial..
> I am thankful that I taught her to do this. I did not expect to ever have to use it hopefully I will never have to again but if I do I know she can do it..lol.


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## katieanddusty (Feb 9, 2006)

Hey, it's always worth a try! Might not get you very far on an Excellent course, but I've never seen a Novice course where you had to call a dog off of a straight-line sequence, so I don't think you'd have much trouble. And maybe you'll meet a junior handler who can take over once he gets to Open or Excellent  I've heard of people who run their own dogs in Standard (where they have the contacts to catch up) and have someone faster run their dog in Jumpers, that's another option.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I really haven't checked out any courses, like I said we just train, but that's really great to know about the novice courses. We just might stand a chance in a set up like that where they're basically straight line obstacles.


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## hawtee (Nov 1, 2006)

You are more than welcome for the pep talk lol. I love seeing newbies come out and play. For some infor on what a course looks like in different venues try here:

http://www.agilitycoursemaps.com/Home.aspx

This is a new site that is trying to get a lot of courses on it from Novice to ex..in all venues.
Personally I like my students to start in either ASCA or NADAC for not only a relaxed arena but also "Training in the ring" is allowed, and boy do they use it for proofing lol..
I my self have been known at the beginning to leave my pup on the yellow as I walked to the exit and then call her to me lol..
I think overall you would have a blast, and you would probably have no problem having someone run you dog. Heck just last month a lady came to me and asked if I would run her chichiuaua )taco bell dog) .. what a hoot


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Thanks for the website, it's a great resource!
Wanna run a really nice golden that listens pretty well ? 



hawtee said:


> You are more than welcome for the pep talk lol. I love seeing newbies come out and play. For some infor on what a course looks like in different venues try here:
> 
> http://www.agilitycoursemaps.com/Home.aspx
> 
> ...


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## hawtee (Nov 1, 2006)

I would love to if we are ever in the same area


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> Thanks for the website, it's a great resource!
> Wanna run a really nice golden that listens pretty well ?


Send him to me in San Diego!! :


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